Championship outfit Rochdale Hornets have swooped to sign up Jack Hansen following Halifax Panthers’ liquidation earlier this week.
Hansen was at the start of his second season with the Panthers and he made two appearances this season before the club collapsed, with the RFL withdrawing their membership on Wednesday.
That decision meant the full Halifax squad became free agents and Rochdale have moved quickly to get the half-back on board. As such, he arrives in time to step into selection contention for this week’s clash with Keighley Cougars.
Hansen made 26 appearances for the Panthers and scored eight tries along the way. The 29-year-old has plenty of experience, too, with stints coming at North Wales Crusaders, Swinton Lions and Sheffield Eagles prior to his spell in West Yorkshire.
“I’m very excited to be joining Rochdale,” Hansen said. “It’s great to link back up with a couple old faces, which was a big reason why I signed here.
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“The club looks like it’s heading in the right direction, and I want to be a part of it. It’s been a tough couple of days with what’s happened at Halifax.
“Things moved quickly, and I’m grateful for the opportunity Andy Mazey and Gary Thornton have given me to carry on playing in 2026.
“I want to win every game, and I want to do something special with this club.”
Hornets chairman Mazey said on the signing from Halifax Panthers: “Firstly, I was deeply saddened by the events which unfolded earlier this week leading to the liquidation of a fellow stakeholder club. Our thoughts as a club remain with everyone affected.
“As a consequence, the situation rendered many players as free agents, which created an unmissable opportunity for us to acquire a top-class player, and we wasted no time in doing so.
“Jack is a player Gary and I have discussed many times over the past four years, but he has always been out of our range as a high-end Championship quality player.
“He is someone I know well from his time in the reserve team at Leigh, and we both later ended up moving to Swinton, where Jack really made his name playing alongside Luke Waterworth and Lewis Hatton.
“He’s a top player but an even better person, and aligns perfectly with our ‘good people doing good things’ mantra.”
