York sign former Bradford and Wigan man

York City Knights have announced the signing of former Wigan man Joe Brown from Bradford Bulls on a one-year deal.

Brown, 22, is best known as a winger but is also able to play at full-back and scored twice in the Knights’ defeat to Bradford at Odsal earlier this season.

Over six foot and with lightning pace, Brown poses a serious challenge to opposition defences while also being tough to beat defensively.

After coming through the Bradford Academy, Brown joined Wigan Warriors in 2017 before returning to his hometown club in May 2019.

This season, Brown has scored ten tries in eighteen appearances for the Bulls who begin their Betfred Championship Play-Off campaign on Saturday against Batley Bulldogs.

On his arrival, Knights Head Coach James Ford said: “I’m really looking forward to working with Joe. It was clear that he has plenty of ambition and drive to continue his development.

“He’s had some very strong games for Bradford in the past couple of seasons and before that he had some outstanding games for London Skolars in League One, following on from his initial tuition with the Bradford and Wigan academies.

“He’s a big, tall, rangy winger who can play centre and full-back. He has lots of speed and I’m really looking forward to helping him improve other areas of his game.”

Discussing signing for the club, Brown added: “I’m really excited. It’s going to be a new challenge for me and it’s a bit of a fresh start.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing how my game develops over the next year or so because I’ve got a lot of improvement to do.

“You see how people like Matty Marsh have kicked on under Fordy, I’m hoping that I can follow what he has done. I hope that, with a consistent year under my belt, I’ll really develop and enjoy my time at York.”