Eagles bring in Bulls centre Oakes

04/11/2021

Sheffield Eagles are pleased to announce the signing of Bradford Bulls centre Ross Oakes on a two-year deal. 

Breaking through to the Bulls first team in 2016, Oakes has been a regular for the West Yorkshire outfit - almost racking up 100 appearances for the club. 

The prospect of a new challenge enticed Oakes to make the switch from Bradford to Sheffield, after speaking to Director of Rugby Mark Aston about the direction of the club. 

“I am really excited,” said Oakes. 

“To see where the club is going in the future, I really want to put a stamp on things and I’m looking forward to the next two years.”

“We can’t turn things around overnight but when I met Tubbs, he told me how things are going to be in the next two to three years, and it sounded exciting. 

“He was telling me about how keen he is to develop players and it’s something I feel like I needed. 

“It’s a fresh start, a new challenge, and I think it’s going to be beneficial for me.

“It seems like the place to be so I can’t wait to be there.”

Commenting on the acquisition of Oakes, Aston added: “He is big and strong and when he broke on to the scene with the Bulls, he scored plenty of tries,” 

“He has good hands and is strong defensively. 

“He’s played with Kirky and Hodgson, he knows the lads and by his own admission the last couple of years he has been stagnant and not improved. 

“He hasn’t had enough ball and enough challenges so that’s what we need to give him.

“We need to challenge him, get him to drop a bit of weight and become a bit more agile. 

“We also need him to have hands on the ball because when he does, he’s a different player. 

“I don’t think he’s had enough time with the ball in his hands over the last few years to cause teams trouble. 

“He’ll certainly get that with us."

By Dan Fowler