Huddersfield Giants sign brother of former Super League star as overseas recruit confirmed

Huddersfield Giants have continued their recruitment for 2025 by signing the younger brother of a former Leigh Leopards star.

Asher O’Donnell, the younger brother of former Super League man Kai O’Donnell, has been announced as the Giants latest signing with Huddersfield signing the 22-year-old on a two-year deal.

He becomes the Giants’ third signing after deals for Wakefield’s Matthieu Cozza and NRL forward Chris Patolo were confirmed, with Huddersfield clearly looking to strengthen their pack judging by their early recruitment.

O’Donnell, like his older brother, is a second-rower and has arrived from Brisbane Tigers in the Queensland Cup, for whom he played 18 times in 2025.

He scored nine tries during that time and was crowned as the club’s player of the year so it could be a major coup for Huddersfield to sign him, especially given the room for development considering he is still just 22 and will have strong guidance from his older brother, who left Leigh to join North Queensland Cowboys ahead of the 2025 season.

Huddersfield Giants sign Kai O’Donnell’s younger brother Asher

The Giants confirmed the signing via a club statement which made plenty of reference to O’Donnell being just 22 and recruiting players around that age has been a clear directive for the Giants.

They made a mid-season move for 24-year-old Tristan Powell from the second tier in Australia and he proved to be one of the stronger players in the pack, and they’ll be hoping that O’Donnell can follow a similar blueprint.

Speaking on the deal, O’Donnell said: “I’m very excited to be part of the Huddersfield Giants family now, it’s a good opportunity for me to test myself at Super League level and I feel naturally it’s the next step.

“Me and my partner will be coming over, we’re looking forward to seeing what the future brings, I’m very keen and grateful for this opportunity, and I’m looking forward to getting started.”

Head coach Luke Robinson, who heads into his second pre-season with the club, said: “Its a real find for us, we believe he could light up Super League, he’s a strong uncompromising back-rower, he runs a strong line and will give us impetus for our attack on the edge.

“Asher works really hard for the team, meaning he’s fit and ready to play whenever you call upon him and with the other players he’s still young at 22, meaning he’s got loads of development left in him and we can see him flourishing here.”

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