Newcastle snap up Rhino Williams
Newcastle Falcons have confirmed the signing of England and Leeds Rhinos rugby league wing Danny Williams.
The 21-year-old joins on an initial one-year-deal and Falcons head coach Steve Bates is confident Williams will make a smooth transition between codes.
"Danny is a very exciting young talent," said Bates.
"He is someone we believe has a great chance of making an impact in union and we have been on the lookout for a player of his type for some time now."
The move was partly orchestrated by Falcons coach Alan Tait, a former Leeds Rhinos and Newcastle player himself, and the 43-year-old believes Williams has all the attributes needed for the union game.
"He's extremely tough, very physical in contact and an outstanding finisher," said Tait.
"His size and pace will be real assets for us, and what has impressed me a lot is the hunger he has to make a success of switching to rugby union.
He has come through a really tough competitive environment at Leeds Rhinos, done well on loan at Hull and Castleford, and there were a host of Super League teams after him. "Danny would fall in to the same sort of bracket as Chris Ashton who has been such a success at Northampton, admittedly at a lower level than the Guinness Premiership, but I'm really excited about him coming here for this season."
Ashton, playing in National League One last season, proved a major success for Northampton after his switch from Wigan and earned a place in the England Saxons squad.
But the cross-code switch has not worked out so well for other young players, with the likes of Chev Walker and Karl Pryce both returning to their original sport after unhappy spells in union.
Williams, 6ft and 13st 9lb, made his Rhinos debut as a 19-year-old.
Bates added: "Having Alan Tait on board has opened up new markets to us with his knowledge and contacts in rugby league, and he rates Danny highly with his finishing ability and physicality.
"Clearly with switching codes there is a lot for him to learn in a relatively short space of time, but the outside backs is the one area of the team where most of the skills are transferrable.
"Alan will work very closely with him in getting him up to speed with rugby union, and we look forward to seeing the impact he makes with us."
