Sheffield Eagles: St Helens relationship helped with Davies deal

Sheffield Eagles' partnership with St. Helens played a key role in securing the services of early close season signing Oliver Davies.
Oliver DaviesOliver Davies
Oliver Davies

That’s the view of Eagles chief Mark Aston, who used his close association with the youngster’s former club to sound out the second-rower before bringing him to South Yorkshire.

It has been a busy couple of months for Aston who has significantly strengthened his hand with the arrival of seven new faces.

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One of those is Davies, who began his career with Super League heavyweights St. Helens before joining the Eagles from Swinton.

“Young Davies started at St. Helens and he has come right through their successful system,” Aston reiterated to The Star.

“The feedback I have had from Saints is that he has been unfortunate. He didn’t quite make the cut for them, but he was only young and it was a tough call to let him go. He has the right pedigree, and that’s what we are looking for.

“He has had a year with Swinton now and that year has given him the chance to experience some vital Championship rugby. Now he needs to progress. We know that he has potential, and it is our job to get that potential out of him. He has been on the bench for Saints in the Super League in the past, that suggests that he has something. We need to harness that now.”

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The Eagles are now set for their first full season as dual-registration partners of Saints, with Aston previously confirming that his squad will be significantly boosted by numbers each week, something that didn’t happen under the previous arrangement with Leigh Centurions last season.

Aston has also confirmed he leaned on last season’s success stories from Langtree Park in his research of Davies, revealing he got the right signals from his previous team mates.

“I have also spoken to the players who have been with us,” Aston confirmed.

“The likes of Jake Spedding and others who have been with us on dual-reg – they say good things about him. He will also do a little bit of work in the community with us alongside Matty Fozard, and he’ll be a player that all the staff are looking develop as the months go on.”

Along with Davies, Aston has brought Shaun Pick, Ilies Macani, Jon Magrin, Daniel Igbinedion, Kieran Moran and Joshua Toole to the Steel City.