Wales prop Andy Bracek completes Barrow Raiders return - Rugby League
Wales international forward, Andy Bracek, has penned a deal to return to Barrow Raiders for the 2012 season. The news about the player’s return was confirmed by club officials on Wednesday, November 23.
While talking about their latest uptake at the club to the reporters, Conduct Manager of Barrow Raiders, Darren Holt, said, “Bracek is a large signing for Raiders. He has recovered good from his injuries and a form he showed in a new general matches bodes
good for subsequent season.”
The 24-year-old Welsh second-row player has been the fulcrum of attention during the recently wrapped up Four Nations 2011 Campaign.
While expressing his thoughts about the Leigh-born ex-Crusader, the Executive of Rugby, Mike Sunderland said, “Anyone who watched Andy in a new Four Nations Tournament would have been tender with his performances particularly, opposite Australia and New
Zealand. We are gratified to have sealed this seasoned international.”
Speculation during the early part of this month was that Bracek had returned to his home town club, Leigh Centurions. This was expected after the withdrawal of his former defunct club, Crusaders, from Super League licencing process until the 2013. Crusaders
were financially constrained which led to their withdrawal from Super League.
This news was broken to the Crusaders’ squad the same day when the Super League licences were announced for the next three years. The news had left the players and crew in complete shock. Resultantly, all their attention diverted towards looking for new
employers. With the complete loss of their future, the players along with the back end support mechanism of the club completely collapsed. They had to pay heavily for it as they failed to check out of the remainder Super League season on a high note.
So far, the player’s longest signing at the club level was with Warrington Wolves which was initiated in 2005. His stay at Wolves attributed to the 57 of the total 61 games he has played so far at this level. With them, Bracek scored a total of 7 tries for
the club and has 28 points to his credit, until 2008, when he switched to play for Crusaders.
However, after the Crusaders’ episode, the player was also in news regarding his linkage to his home town club, Leigh Centurions, who had announced to have signed Matt Gardner and Andy Bracek, but the deal was yet not confirmed
The second-tier club, Raiders, was quick in signing the deal with Bracek, who previously is well-known for being part of the Championship wining Raiders’ squad in 2009. He also played for Leigh Miners Rangers as a youth player before joining in with St Helens
to start off his top flight rugby league career.
This uptake by Raiders is definitely going to benefit the player and the club alike.
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