Joey Leilua, Johnathon Ford and Mark Kheirallah lock in clubs for 2023

Featherstone Rovers trio Joey Leilua, Johnathon Ford and Mark Kheirallah have all locked in clubs for 2023.

Ahead of the 2022 Betfred Championship play-offs, Joey Leilua, Mark Kheirallah and Johnathon Ford have all put pen to paper on contracts for 2023, whether that be in Super League or the Championship.

Speaking of the announcement, chairman Mark Campbell commented; “Attracting players of this calibre is one thing, but being able to retain them shows the environment we’ve built and how we’ve helped these players settle into life at Featherstone.”

Joey Leilua is one of the highest profile players to have pulled on the Featherstone shirt.  Leilua joined in the off-season from NRL side Wests Tigers and the two time Dally M Centre of the Year is settling into life at Rovers. “Me and my family have really settled in here, we love it so far, we love the school and the lifestyle here so it was a really easy decision to make.” 

Mark Kheiralhah, who joined midway through the first half of the season having left Toulouse Olympique, blazed a trail for his former team mate, Johnathon Ford to join. “I felt that having been injured, I’d not had the opportunity to give what I really wanted to give. I’m grateful for the second chance and I’m really enjoying it here, the support, the club, the coaching staff, I’m really happy here.”

Ford was equally enthusiastic about the opportunity to extend his time at Rovers; “We’re super happy here, my wife is happy, my kids are happy, it was a really easy decision and to have the opportunity to play alongside Killer (Mark Kheirallah) again is great.”