Swinton sign five

Swinton have signed five players as they aim for a top half finish in the Championship next year.

Matt Sarsfield, Grant Gore, Chris Hankinson, Jack Murphy and Oliver Davies have all joined the Lions for 2017.

Sarsfield started his professional career with Dewsbury, but made a significant impact for the Lions when he played during its 2013 campaign at Leigh Sports Village.

Swinton maintained their Championship status that year, and Sarsfield chipped in with eight tries in 16 impressive appearances at second-row.

Leigh saw his huge potential and took him from the Lions, and he then became an integral part of their impressive line-up before an injury problem disrupted his 2015 campaign.

In early 2016 he joined Salford, but he also played number of games on loan at Halifax.

Halfback Gore came through the system at Widnes, and made the first of his 23 appearances for the Vikings in 2011.

He joined Whitehaven on loan in 2015, and remained at the Recreation Ground in 2016 on a permanent deal.

Hankinson started out his career with Salford, but joined Leigh in the hope of pushing for a first team place.

As part of his development he joined Barrow on loan in League One, and quickly became one of that league’s outstanding players.

Murphy is a 24 year-old fullback with Super League experience with both Wigan and Salford, the latter during a loan period.

During the 2014 season Wigan allowed him to gain Championship experience with Workington Town on a dual-registration deal, but at the end of that campaign he signed a permanent contract with the Derwent Park club.

Davies will not be 21 until the end of November, but already he has progressed through the ranks at St Helens and into their first team.

The second-rower played for Great Britain Academy against Australia in 2014, and a year later made his first team debut at Saints.