Oldham has secured dual-registration agreements with Super League champions Wigan and League 1 Rochdale for the 2025 season, strengthening their player development pipeline across multiple competitions.

The partnership with Wigan solidifies an existing relationship that recently saw forward George Hirst transfer from Oldham to the World Club champions, with the player immediately returning to the Roughyeds for the upcoming Championship campaign. A young Wigan side demonstrated their depth with a 28-16 victory over Oldham in a friendly at Boundary Park on Sunday.

Head coach Sean Long gains additional flexibility through the Rochdale agreement, which allows player movement in both directions between the clubs. Rochdale narrowly lost 16-14 to Oldham in Wednesday night’s Law Cup encounter.

“For us it offers the best possible chance of having a competitive squad through what we expect to be a very demanding season,” Oldham managing director Mike Ford told Roughyeds TV.

“Wigan was a conversation we had as part of George Hirst moving. Me and Sean spoke with Kris Radlinski and Matt Peet and wanted that partnership extending to players. They have a lot of good young players - as we saw in their win over us at Boundary Park on Sunday - who need better quality rugby than the reserves.”

Ford cited last season’s successful acquisition of prop Adam Sidlow from dual-registration partners Salford as evidence of the arrangement’s value. The veteran forward proved instrumental in Oldham’s League 1 title victory while regaining match fitness following injury.

Oldham faces Rochdale Mayfield in their third match in seven days on Sunday at Boundary Park in the Betfred Challenge Cup, kicking off at 12:30pm.

---

Source: Read original article