Rio Corkill is the first new face ahead of Whitehaven’s 2024 Betfred Championship campaign.
The centre makes the switch to the LEL Arena from south Cumbrian neighbours Barrow Raiders where he played 13 times in 2023, scoring three tries.
Corkill made his Super League debut in 2022 for St Helens coming off the bench in the Round 26 clash against Wakefield Trinity.
Corkill is also a Nigerian international qualifying for the African nation through his grandfather. He made two appearances playing in the halves against Cameroon and Ghana.
On his signing for Haven after they had confirmed their Championship status Corkill said: “I can’t wait to start – I’m quite an ambitious person. I want to see how far I can go in the game and I believe coming here is the next step and the right step for me to really kick on.”
Head coach Jonty Gorley said: “It’s good to get Rio over the line, I tried to sign him at the start of this season but he opted for his hometown club, Barrow, which I fully understood.
“Rio came through the St Helens youth system and any player I have worked with from set-ups like that, such as Wigan, Saints, Warrington, Castleford etc, all have a great attitude and understand what it takes to get to be a top player, and Rio is one of those.
“Rio is a centre who can play a bit of back-row and has even filled in as a middle recently at Barrow. So getting a player who isn’t pigeon holed is great for me as a coach.”
