Yesterday it was confirmed that Warrington Wolves halfback and former Castleford Tigers and Featherstone Rovers loanee Riley Dean would be leaving the club to head down under and now his destination has been reportedly revealed.
Dean is a product of the Warrington Wolves academy but has found consistent first team opportunities hard to come by during his time at the Halliwell Jones. This has been due in part to the big names at the club in those positions.
When he made his debut in 2019, the Wolves had just made a big money signing in the shape of Blake Austin who was the early Man of Steel leader that season prior to injury. In 2020, it got even harder for Dean to find his way into the first team. This is because of the arrival of Gareth Widdop.
Confirmed in early 2019, Widdop finally made the move to Super League to join Warrington ahead of the 2020 season. A year later another big name halfback was being drafted in at the Halliwell Jones in the shape of George Williams.
The halfback joined mid-season in a move that signified the end of Blake Austin’s time at the club as he left for Headingley as Dean continually found opportunities hard to come by.
In 2022, he made the bulk of his 10 first team appearances such as at the Magic Weekend and against Leeds Rhinos away from home but the emergence of another young halfback in Leon Hayes gave him another obstacle.
This year, he began the year on loan at Featherstone Rovers and was very impressive at the start of the season as the Rovers stormed to the top of the league. However, as injuries mounted at Warrington he was recalled only to be later sent away on loan to Castleford to held fend off relegation.
Again he would depart the club when Blake Austin arrived and has now left been granted his release from Warrington to pursue an opportunity in the NRL.
It has now been revealed by the Mole of Wide of World of Sports that he will be joining the North Queensland Cowboys set up initially with their feeder team.
“From joining the club at 14, fast forward all the years. Huge thanks to (Warrington) for everything and everyone involved from staff to best mates for life. Been a pleasure, but onto the next challenge and adventure,” Dean said.
“We will wait and see how he goes – we have heard good things about him,” added Cowboys coach Todd Payten.
