Barrow Raiders have pulled off the major signing of Huddersfield Giants prop Adam Walne - who admitted the pull of playing alongside his brother Jordan once again was too good to turn down.
The 29-year-old, who began his career with the Salford Red Devils before climbing his way up to the Super League has opted to move out of the full time game to sign for the Raiders.
The prop, who had a spell at Craven Park under dual registration in 2014, has recently set up his own conditioning business and believes now is the right time to move into the part time game.
Walne said: "After hearing nothing but great things about everyone involved and connected with the club, Jordan then put the club in contact with me and it became very clear after some good conversations with the club chairman Steve Neale and coach Paul Crarey along with rugby director Andy Gaffney, that signing at Barrow for the next two years was the right move for me and my family.
"To play alongside Jordan once again, which is something we both thought we might not get the chance to do again would be too special to turn down.
"I have already experienced first hand the atmosphere and support from the fans at Barrow when I came up for a game on dual registration from Salford in 2014, and I look forward to pulling on the Barrow jersey once again as a Barrow player this time for the 2021 season and beyond."
Walne signed with Huddersfield in the Super League in 2018, making 12 appearances for the Yorkshire side along with eight outings for Leigh Centurions during a loan spell.
Despite being in full time rugby, the ex Salford man has opted for the Raiders and to run his own business, Raw&Outdoor, partly down to the large percentage of players in rugby that have nothing to fall back on when their careers end.
He added: "I’m entering a point of transition in my career earlier than I once would of thought, but I’m a big believer in following your path and trusting your inner compass.
Having recently founded Raw&Outdoor conditioning club with my brother Jordan, for the community, which we set up to boost the populations physical and mental health during a time of uncertainty surrounding the safety of exercising within closed indoor spaces. It’s been impossible for me to have the input and involvement in the business while being full time with rugby. It’s very frustrating having loads of ideas and plans but not having any time to make them happen with full time rugby being so demanding it takes over your life.
"I’m at a good age and potentially in my prime but the thing with rugby is that it’s a shelf life career and the problem with that is you can’t predict when your own shelf life will be up and when it does come, you then get tossed aside like those out-of-date, unwanted goods on the shelf.
"With a large percentage of players having nothing to fall back on for life after rugby, finding themselves in turmoil when their careers finish."
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