Broncos sign Battye from Eagles

London Broncos have confirmed that they have signed prop Eddie Battye from the Sheffield Eagles for the 2016 season.

The highly rated 24-year-old has inked a two-year deal with the capital club, and he is looking forward to linking up with former Eagle Andrew Henderson, now head coach at London.

“I am really looking forward to getting down to London and joining the Broncos,” the player told the Broncos’ official website.

“It was a massive decision for me and is going to be a big change and a challenge I am looking forward to.

“It will be great to work under ‘Hendo’ as I have a lot of respect for him as player and as a person from his time at Sheffield and he helped me a lot.

“Hopefully he can continue to develop my game as head coach, he has a lot of knowledge of the game and I hope to learn as much as I can.

“It has always been a goal of mine to become a full time rugby league player and I am hoping being part of a full time environment will bring me on as a player.

“In 2016 I want to keep developing as a player and be as successful as I can at London.

“I still have a job to do with Sheffield and I aim to finish this season as strong as I can with them.

“Sheffield has been a great club for me, and being there since I was a 16 was hard decision to leave, and I wish Mark Aston and the club all the best in the future.”

Henderson is delighted to have added a player of such quality to his ranks for next season.

“Eddie is a great acquisition for the club and he’s come through a good system at Sheffield and is now an established player at this level. I’m really excited that he’s decided to join us,” he said.

“He’s tough, robust and very skilful for a prop. He’s had a really good season this year with Sheffield as one of their standout front-rowers.

“I know he was offered to stay at Sheffield and attracted Super League interest, but he felt that the time was right for a new challenge and saw that London was the best opportunity to further his career.

“He’s keen, hungry to do well and wants to become an even better player. These are some of the values I’m looking for in players I recruit.”