Ex-Workington Town centre Perry Whiteley has joined Sheffield Eagles on a one-year deal.

Whiteley, who spent the last two seasons with Town in the second tier, has become the Eagles' third close-season signing in recent days.

He played against the Eagles last season in Workington’s victory at Bawtry Road, one of 17 appearances for Town in 2016.

Whilst injury may have prevented from experiencing more game time, Whiteley is now fit and raring to go, with Eagles' director of rugby Mark Aston confident he will frighten many a Championship defence in 2017.

“Perry is a really strong lad and another player in the early stages of his career,” Aston said.

“If you don’t fancy a battle then he has all the attributes to run right through his opponents, he has the ability to be very destructive.

“When he has momentum behind he runs with real purpose, and if allowed, he can dominate.

"He is another player who fits the mould of what we want to do here at Sheffield Eagles.

"He has attributes, he is willing to learn and we love to work with players like Perry to make them better players. We are delighted to have added him to our squad.”

A former Huddersfield player, who also enjoyed a stint in Australia, Whiteley can also play in the back row which will give Aston further options as he looks to gear up for the visit of Oldham on February 5.

“Perry has the potential of being a high quality centre, whilst he is also comfortable in the back row,” Aston continued.

“He has to work on the defensive side of his game, but here at Sheffield we have one of the best for him to learn from in Keith Senior.

"There is nothing that Keith doesn’t know about playing at centre, and Perry will benefit so much from working with him on the training ground over the next few months.”

Sheffield confirmed their participation in the 2017 Championship this month, although they will revert to being part-time.

The South Yorkshire club allayed fears for their future after saying they are on course to move into a new stadium in Sheffield in 2018.

They will spend the coming season groundsharing with Wakefield.