Sheffield Eagles: Mark Aston looking maintain progression of young crop next season

Sheffield Eagles chief Mark Aston says he’s looking into options to ensure some of his promising crop of youngsters don’t stagnate during the 2020 campaign.
Sheffield Eagles youngster Greg Burns has agreed a new deal with the clubSheffield Eagles youngster Greg Burns has agreed a new deal with the club
Sheffield Eagles youngster Greg Burns has agreed a new deal with the club

Aston often craved some added experience during injury-hit spells last season, and has moved to address potential issues in 2020 by signing seasoned campaigners Scott Wheeldon, Rob Worrincy and Frankie Mariano for next season.

But Aston doesn’t want to stunt the progression of a number of talented operators after agreeing new deals for the likes of Greg Burns, Lewis Taylor and Rory Dixon.

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Paddy Burns and Blake Broadbent have also made great progress in recent times, with Aston confirming a dual-registration deal with a League One club is an option to keep his youngsters playing competitive rugby league.

He told The Star: “That will be good if we can get some of our younger lads out there and playing if it is possible because that's important to us. I would like to do a dual-registration with a team in League One if I can.”

The Eagles have successfully used the dual-registration system with teams from Super League in recent times, with partnerships with the likes of St Helens and London Broncos.

Whilst Aston wouldn’t rule out looking up again, he admits he’s content with the current numbers he has at his disposal.

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He added: “We'll talk to people but to be honest we are not pushing it at the moment. We're looking at that (League One) now, and then maybe we'll see what's available upwards. There are quite a few teams that are already sorted though.”

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