Halifax Panthers have announced the signing of Eribe Doro from Super League side Warrington Wolves on a one year contract until the end of the 2023 Betfred Championship season.
Doro has spent the previous two seasons on loan with Championship outfit Widnes Vikings, having made his Super League debut for the Wolves back in 2020 against Castleford Tigers. He will be a familiar name to Panthers fans having scored tries in both fixtures between the two sides in 2022.
The 21 year old prop forward arrives at The Shay ahead of our 150th anniversary year, and is looking ahead to a massive year in his debut season with the club.
“I’m buzzing to be here”, said Doro. “I’ve had a walk around The Shay and the facilities are class. It’s a big year, 150 years is not a small feat and it’s a big club with a big history. I just want to be here and add to that.”
“The main turning point in my decision to come to Halifax was the conversations I had with Simon Grix. When I spoke to him, we spoke about where he saw the club, where he saw the team progressing over the next year and the responses he gave me filled me with a lot of confidence. I just really wanted to be a part of that.”
“I’m still only young. I’ve got a lot more rugby in me and I’ve got a lot more improvement in me as well so I just wanted to make sure the match was as good as it could be. I feel like I’ve found that with Halifax and I’m excited to be here. I hope the Panthers fans enjoy watching me play on a weekend because I’m going to enjoy playing for them. I hope they describe me as a hard working middle as I’m going to work hard for them every week.”
“I like to keep my game pretty simple, I like it down the middle nice and tough. I always try to get an early touch of the ball, carry hard and get a quick play the ball for my teammates so I’ll work hard and just go from there.”
And Panthers boss Simon Grix was happy to add an up and coming forward prospect to his pack for the 2023 season.
“We’ve mentioned before in previous interviews, some of our middles are probably the wrong side of 30 if you like and Eribe is quite the opposite to that. At 21, he’s certainly got a lot to learn and a lot of years in front of him but I’m quite excited by that, being a part of his development.”
“I think we’ve played against him twice when he’s been on loan at Widnes this season and he’s made a significant impact in both games. He’s all action when he’s on the field, he’s got a decent engine carrying the ball really well and he’s certainly got a lot of heart about his performances which is really good. He’s a brave player so I think it’s a really good signing for us. I think he’ll freshen us up in a lot of ways so we’re really happy to get him on board.”
“He’s an ambitious kid. I don’t think in his head, part time rugby is where he really wants to be. He wants to be higher than that and we can only benefit from that ambition as a result. We’ll help him along that journey. At 21, he’s clearly not the finished article. He’s got some really strong attributes and some areas to work on and I’m happy with that. That gives us something to go at and we’ll get a better player as we go along with Eribe. But his approach and intent in his carries, he does rip onto the ball and looks to make dents every time. He’s not looking to get tackled or make it easy for anyone so that’s definitely something that you can’t turn down and that you need in your team. We’re happy to have him and will welcome him into our group for a big 2023.”
The signing was unveiled with a fantastic announcement video:
A MASKED HERO EMERGES FROM THE SHADOWS 🤺
Enjoy Hali-wood's latest autumn blockbuster trailer🎦 Introducing Signing #4 for #FAX150
"⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️" – Simon Grix
"Simply Sensational!" – Andrew Voss
"Mine was better" – Louis Jouffret pic.twitter.com/zaiJdlUXkG— Halifax Panthers 🐾 (@HalifaxPanthers) November 10, 2022