York Knights sign former Super League hooker

York Knights have made a last minute swoop for former Super League player James Cunningham with the versatile 28-year-old signing on for former coach Andrew Henderson.

The Championship side have managed to sign Cunningham to a two-year-contract having spent the 2022 season at Toulouse Olympique in the Super League.

That wasn’t the only Super League experience Cunningham had though and with 71 appearances in the competition and still just 28 he’s a major coup for the Knights.

Previously at London Broncos during their Super League era he has worked with coach Andrew Henderson before, and that’s a big factor in this deal getting done.

The club had announced the deal via their Twitter and website and both player and coach commented.

Henderson said: “We’re really happy to have James on board. I’ve had the pleasure of working with James previously and knowing him as a person, I thought he’d be a good fit for the group.

“From a playing point of view, he’s a Super League standard player, having mainly plied his trade in Super League at some very good clubs, working under some very good coaches.

“At 28-years-old, he’s still in the prime of his career, so I think he’ll add real value.”

As well as having represented Toulouse and London, Cunningham also had a spell with Huddersfield after having come through at Hull FC.

Able to play a multitude of positions that was another key factor for Henderson recruiting his former star.

“It was important to find someone with versatility. James can play a number of positions and he’s equally at home at hooker, loose forward, half-back, centre or back-row.

“With our current squad, that could prove valuable for us this season.”

Cunningham added: “I’ve got a pretty good relationship with Hendo from our time at London.

“When I saw that Hendo made the move to York, I asked him what the player availability was and if he’d want to sign me again, because I really enjoyed playing under him.

“Hendo is really transparent as a Head Coach, he tells you what he wants and he’ll tell you if you’re doing something wrong and that’s all you can ask as a player.

“I came down on a two-week trial and enjoyed it and Hendo asked me to stay and be part of his vision of earning promotion to Super League.”

⚔️ @YorkRLFC have announced the signing of former @TOXIII & @LondonBroncosRL utility player James Cunningham…

— Rugby Football League (@TheRFL) February 1, 2023

He even went as far to say he’d been keen on the move for a while.