Warrington Wolves confirm second dual registration partners for 2025

Warrington Wolves have confirmed their second dual registration partners for the 2025 season with Wire opting for a League One outfit, atop their pre-existing deal with Widnes Vikings.

Dual registration deals see the movement of players between teams become a much swifter process with Super League clubs often utilising it as a gateway to get their young stars game time against men and not fellow youngsters.

It can be more optimal than restrictive loan contracts which are often subject to minimum lengths of time whereas a dual registration deal can be a lot more fluid and also provides far more opportunities.

As referenced, Warrington Wolves have already entered a dual registration deal with Championship outfit Widnes Vikings but now they’ve entered into a second agreement, this time with Keighley Cougars.

The Cougars are expected to be one of the favourites for the League One title with the West Yorkshire club coming close in 2025 but ultimately falling short.

Warrington Wolves confirm Keighley as dual reg partners

A statement on Warrington’s club site confirmed the new deal, reading: “Warrington Wolves are pleased to announce a dual registration partnership with Keighley Cougars for the upcoming 2025 season.

“The partnership with the Betfred League One club will provide some of our younger players with the opportunity to gain valuable first-team experience to aid their development.

“The agreement gives the club another option alongside our ongoing other dual registration commitment with Widnes Vikings.”

Explaining the decision, Director of Rugby and former interim coach Gary Chambers said:“We’re excited to start a dual reg partnership with Keighley for next season.

“They’re a very well-run and ambitious club who are on the up. It’s another option for our younger players, along with Widnes, to gain first team experience in a tough league and competitive environment.”

Warrington offered plenty of chances for their young stars last season under Sam Burgess with 17-year-old Arron Lindop scoring on debut in the first round of the season against Catalans Dragons. The young centre would go on to make nine Super League appearances, scoring six times.

Other youngsters such as Jake Thewlis, Lucas Green, Max Wood and Adam Holroyd, all under 21 also got game time and now Wire have two other professional clubs to send their young talent to, should they wish after securing this second dual registration deal.

What Keighley said on Wire dual reg deal

As for Keighley, who will be led by Jake Webster who recently confirmed his contract as head coach is ‘indefinite’, they’ll benefit from all that young talent as they bid to return to the Championship.

After finishing second to Oldham in 2024, they would lose the League One play-offs which saw Hunslet earn promotion instead.

Their COO, Steve Watkinson, said: “Jake and I spent some time at Warrington last season and my first thanks must go to Gary Chambers, Sam Burgess and support staff for their time and the access they have kindly given us. Both Jake and I have come away from those meetings with a lot of ideas from the fabulous setup at Warrington and have already started adapting and implementing some of those ideas within our group.

“There’s a lot of synergies between the two clubs and this feels like a great fit for us. It’s really refreshing to see such young talent coming through at Warrington and it’s great that Gary and Sam both see Keighley Cougars as a place for that talent to be nurtured. Internally, we’ve been working really hard on our environment and I believe that is a reflection of this partnership.”