North Wales Crusaders have announced the return of former Bradford Bulls and Widnes Vikings winger and Samoan International Patrick Ah Van to the club until the end of the 2024 season.
The 35 year old Auckland born winger has had an illustrious career which spans over 18 years, where he started in the NRL in 2006 appearing for the New Zealand Warriors, where he made 54 appearances, scoring 16 tries and 5 goals between 2006-2010.
Ah Van then moved to these shores in 2011, playing Super League for Bradford Bulls where he made 28 appearances, scoring 12 tries and kicking 97 goals.
2012 saw Ah Van sign for Widnes Vikings where he spent 8 glorious seasons, making a total of 123 appearances, scoring 95 tries, kicking 73 goals.
During the 2018 season Ah Van did make a handful of appearances for North Wales Crusaders as part of the duel registration deal at that time with Widnes Vikings.
The New Zealander then made a permanent move to North Wales Crusaders in 2021, where he went on to spend 2 seasons making a total of 42 appearances and crossing the whitewash 20 times.
In 2023 he swapped North Wales Crusaders for Oldham, where he had a good season, making 17 appearances and bagging 15 tries, his last appearance for the Roughyeds was during the League One Play-Offs, against North Wales Crusaders where a dramatic Toby Hughes drop goal ended Oldham hopes.
Head coach Carl Forster said “This type of signing is unbelievable for our club. Pat showed his quality against us last season and we are made up to have him back in the Cru colours. His experience will be so valuable for the younger guys in our group. He’s a quality player and will bring so much to the group on and off the field. I’m really excited to be working with him.”
He is the latest in a series of players to find new clubs or agree new contracts despite being at the twilight of his career with the most extreme example being 42 year old Paul Sykes who will now play on until he is 43.
Ah Van meanwhile will turn 36 at the start of next year and is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon.
