Championship club announce eight departures, including NRL Grand Final winner
The Shay, the home of Halifax Panthers
Championship outfit Halifax Panthers have announced the departures of eight players from The Shay, including that of ex-NRL and Super League star Gareth Widdop.
35-year-old Widdop – who won the NRL Grand Final with Melbourne Storm back in 2012 – did a retirement u-turn to join his hometown club ahead of the season just gone.
Across the 2024 campaign, the playmaker featured 24 times for Fax as they finished 9th in the Championship, scoring seven tries in the process along with six goals.
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Championship club announce eight departures, including NRL Grand Final winner
Fellow ex-Super League aces Joe Keyes and Matty Gee also depart The Shay having agreed deals to join Bradford Bulls in 2025.
Keelan Foster, who played 11 games for Fax having joined them from Doncaster midway through the 2024 season, has penned a deal with newly-promoted Hunslet for 2025 while Oli Davies will join League 1 side North Wales Crusaders.
Davies had been on loan with the Crusaders since June, and makes that move a permanent one heading into the new year.
The Panthers’ departure list is rounded off by the trio of Ed Barber, Sam Campbell and Clement Boyer. Between them, those three amassed 32 appearances for Fax over the course of the season just gone.
As the club announced the octet’s departures, they stated: “The Panthers would like to place on record our thanks to all the players for their efforts in the blue and white this season and wish them all the best of luck for the future.”
Fax have also bid farewell to head coach Liam Finn ahead of 2025, with the 40-year-old leaving the club to take up a role as one of Luke Robinson’s assistants at Super League outfit Huddersfield Giants.
Former dual-code England international Kyle Eastmond has replaced him in the dugout at The Shay, signing a three-year deal.
With assistant Craig Huby, strength and conditioning coach Jon Kelly and club therapist Emma Seal all also having departed, Fax say that Eastmond will appoint his new backroom staff ahead of the start of pre-season training in November
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