Whitehaven have eased their problems in the hooking role by signing Tom Forber on a month’s loan from Betfred Super League side Wigan Warriors.
He joins Wigan team-mates Jacob Douglas and Junior Msembe who made telling contributions to the team in Sunday’s 20-16 home defeat by London Broncos.
With James Newton and Callum Phillips long terms absentees from 2022 and then the loss of Josh Eaves during pre-season it left the squad thin at hooker with Marcus O’Brien deputising in the position throughout the early weeks of the campaign.
But the club’s search for a hooker has now concluded with the signing of Forber following impressing in Haven’s pre-season clash with the Warriors.
Head coach Jonty Gorley said: “To get Tom Forber from Wigan is a relief more than anything for me. Tom played really well against us in the friendly and was one of their top performers.
“The situation we are in regarding hookers is this: Callum Phillips is out until around May time but James Newton could be available for the Swinton game, and those two are my recognised hookers.
“Because of the injuries to those two, I have been looking for a hooker for some time now, after Josh Eaves left us after pre-season had started.
“This meant I’ve had to use Marcus O’Brien as a 9. Cus has been a stand-out performer for me and has done a great job. Even though it’s early in the season Marcus has played big minutes with a knee injury, which shows his character and attitude.
“Getting Tom for a couple of weeks will lighten the load on Cus, especially with Newts coming back next week hopefully.
“Tom will add a specialist hookers role to our team and like I said, he played a real big part for Wigan when they beat us. He ties the markers up well and is a general all round good hooker. He’s got the typical Wigan traits of toughness and good core skills.”
Departing director Ashley Kilpatrick said: “It’s great to get Tom on board. We saw what he could do against us in pre-season as he controlled the ruck in the second half. He has experience of playing in the Championship and League 1 with Newcastle and Oldham respectively.
“Our thanks go to Wigan Warriors for allowing Tom to join us for the next month.”
Forber, who will be 20 in May, started his career with the amateur club Blackbrook and made his Wigan senior debut at Hull KR in August last year. He was one of seven players to make their Wigan Super League debuts that day.
He spent part of last season on loan at Newcastle where he was highly rated by the former Wigan legend Denis Betts who was director of rugby and interim head coach at Thunder when Forber was a consistent performer in the Championship.
