Super League coach admits interest in signing former St Helens and Hull FC man

It’s that time of year when clubs are heavily invested in recruitment.

There have been plenty of rumours making the rounds lately.

Hull FC’s Chris Satae to Catalans Dragons, Sam Wood to Castleford Tigers, Brad Dwyer back to Warrington Wolves, Daryl Clark to St Helens and Sam Walters to Wigan Warriors have all been grabbing headlines.

One other story is Castleford Tigers’ reported interest in former St Helens and Hull FC back Josh Simm as reported by Rugby League Live.

Now Castleford coach Andy Last has addressed the rumours admitting there is interest in the back.

“Yeah he’s someone that we’re looking at but I can’t comment in terms of for this year,” he said on BBC Radio Leeds.

“He’s certainly a player that we’ve looked at and he fits that profile that we’ve spoken about.

“He’s a good player, very very athletic and creative so he’s certainly someone we are looking at.”

The 21-year-old, who left St Helens following the conclusion of the 2022 season, joined the Brisbane Broncos’ feeder team who compete in the Queensland Cup for the 2023 season.

Simm will aim to follow in the footsteps of Dom Young who left Huddersfield Giants for Newcastle Knights in 2019 due to limited opportunities, with his bold move down under an undoubted success as he’s thrived on the NRL stage.

Simm made his St Helens debut in 2019 after impressing through their academy ranks, scoring 59 tries in 43 games for the under-19s.

Overall he has made 19 appearances for Saints scoring seven tries, three of which came in a man of the match performance against Leeds Rhinos in 2020.

Simm made seven appearances for the champions in 2022 including the Challenge Cup semi-final defeat to Wigan. The outside-back also made a further five Super League appearances for Hull FC where he spent the second half of last season on loan, scoring two tries.

Speaking exclusively about the move to Serious About Rugby League, he explained his decision to leave England.

“It’s a good opportunity for me and my partner,” said Simm. “It’s exciting and it’s a big change. The competition is really good over there and I’m hopeful I can cement a position.

He continued: “I needed a change after the past four years with Saints. Being apart of a team that has won everything was special but I feel like I have nothing to lose going over there to Australia.”

Simm is pulling up trees it seems down under being named Man of the Match in his last outing.

He has scored twice already this season and has been an ever present averaging a very impressive 88 metres per game.

He has predominately played on the wing but had made the odd appearance at centre.