Widnes Vikings acquire utility backs player Rhys Hanbury from Crusaders – Rugby League News
The Cheshire based English Rugby League Football club, Widnes Vikings, has announced the signing of Australian utility backs player, Rhys Hanbury. Officials at the club have confirmed the news of the versatile Hanbury in a statement released on their website on Wednesday, September 07.
Hanbury has inked a two-year deal with the Vikings and will join the club from their Super League rivals Crusaders at the end of the 2011 Super League season. The two-year contract contains a clause to extend the contract further by a year if mutually agreed by the concerned parties.
Widnes Vikings head Coach, Denis Betts, has expressed his delight on acquiring the services of the Hanbury for the club. He termed Hanbury’s inclusion as an important addition to the squad. He added that the utility backs’ versatility will help the club to use him in different roles, which brings a kind of the unique dimension to the whole squad.
Betts has expressed his desire that Hanbury will share his experience of playing at both National Rugby League and Super League with the Vikings players, particularly the youngsters.
Betts further added, “Although Rhys will be the first to acknowledge that he's far from the finished article and there are still areas in his game that he needs to develop, we're confident that he can kick-on to the next level whilst in a Widnes shirt which will be massive for both him as a player and us as a club.”
Hanbury has expressed his satisfaction on signing his new deal with the Vikings and securing his future in the Northern Hemisphere for the next two years. He added, “When I first came over to this country, I was already familiar with names such as Widnes, Wigan and Warrington given their successes over the years.”
Commenting on his decision to join Vikings, Hanbury added that he was really impressed with the club’s vision and future plans. He further added the presence Hep Cahill, Frank Winterstein, and Lloyd White, in the club’s management has assisted in arriving at his decision to join Vikings.
The New South Wales born Hanbury started his professional Rugby League career with the Australian National Rugby League (NRL) outfit, South Sydney Rabbitohs. He made his debut for Rabbitohs against the Penrith Panthers during March 2004.
At the end of the 2009 NRL season, Hanbury joined the Super League outfit Crusaders. He made his Southern Hemisphere debut for the Crusaders in 2010. He made 20 appearances for Crusaders in 2010 and scored 12 tries.
The 26-year-old Hanbury missed most of the 2011 season due to injury. He made only 10 appearances for the Crusaders in this season and scored five tries.
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