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Cornwall RLFC are delighted to announce that the club have entered into a dual-registration partnership with Betfred Championship side Halifax Panthers.

One of rugby league’s most storied clubs, Halifax were founding members of Super League and in 1987, were Challenge Cup winners over St Helens after a dramatic 19-18 victory.

The Panthers have been a mainstay of rugby league’s second tier for a number of seasons and won the Championship play-off final in 2010.

This arrangement between Cornwall and Halifax will run until the end of the 2024 season and provide members of the Panthers’ squad with valuable game time and first-hand experience of senior rugby league.

And for this weekend’s Betfred League 1 round 10 clash away to Hunslet, forward Sam Campbell will be available for Cornwall selection, as both clubs will instantly reap the rewards of this new and exciting partnership.

“We are very proud as a club to link up with Halifax,” head coach Mike Abbott told cornwallrlfc.co.uk.

“They have a proud rugby league history and over the years have produced a conveyor belt of talented footballers. We feel that this partnership will assist in their young players’ development by being able to offer them first team football.

“Sam Campbell will be in our squad this weekend and he will help us in the middle of the park, an area where injuries and unavailability have been a real thorn in our side over the past month.

“We are in the midst of a hectic fixture schedule and this partnership will help us no end. I’d like to thank Liam Finn (Halifax Panthers head coach) for agreeing to this partnership, which come the end of 2024, will undoubtedly have delivered mutual benefits for both clubs.”

Meanwhile, Finn, who coached Dewsbury Rams to the League 1 title last year before moving to the Shay, added:

“The new partnership gives us a chance to build a relationship with Cornwall and get as many players playing rugby league as possible,” he enthused.
“The opportunity to dual reg with Cornwall, to give Sam an opportunity to play games and still be available for us on a weekend, was too good to turn down.

“Sam was always a bit of a long-term project and needs to play as often as possible, with this arrangement giving him a good opportunity to do that.

“And with us obviously still being pretty thin on numbers, we’ve still got the chance, should the need arise, to use him in our squad. We also have the flexibility to call him back day-to-day, if required.”