IRELAND INTERNATIONAL JOINS ON TWO-YEAR DEAL

Experienced Super League forward joins the storm

We are delighted to confirm that Ireland international Oliver Roberts has joined the club on a deal until the end of the 2027 season.

Roberts, 30, began his rugby league career as part of then Super League club Bradford Bulls junior development system before he was offered a three-year professional contract at the start of the 2013 season. Making his Super League debut at just 18 years old, he went on to make half a dozen appearances for the Bulls over the 2013 and 2014 seasons before joining Huddersfield Giants on an initial two-year deal for the 2015 season.

Whilst Oliver did not play in the Super League for the Giants in 2015, he was still able to enjoy opportunities to develop whilst on loan with Championship sides Oldham and Sheffield Eagles. 2016 would ultimately be Roberts’ breakout season, with the forward playing in virtually every game for the Giants and remaining a consistent member of the Huddersfield squad for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He would still regularly feature for the Giants in 2019 but found his game time limited compared to his last three years in West Yorkshire.

Roberts’ 2020 and 2021 seasons would see him swap the John Smiths’ Stadium for the AJ Bell Stadium (as they then were) as he joined Salford on loan for two spells, as well as a brief loan spell with Halifax. After making a handful of appearances for Huddersfield in Super League and Halifax on dual-registration, Oliver ended his lengthy stay with the Giants and initially joined Newcastle Thunder on a two-and-a-half year deal until the end of the 2024 season. However, he left the North-east club at the end of the 2022 season having made seven appearances and scoring one try after the club announced it would be reverting to part-time status for the 2023 season.

Swapping Newcastle for Sheffield, Oliver has spent the last three seasons playing for the Eagles and has been a fan favourite known for his hard-hitting and taking-no-prisoners approach, which saw him rack up seven tries in 50 appearances as Sheffield competed in or around the Championship play-offs before experiencing a consolidation season in 2025 following the departure of long-time coach Mark Aston.

Outside of his club career, Oliver regularly featured for Ireland in the European Championships and the 2017 World Cup (registering a notable heavy hit against Wellington Albert against Papua New Guinea) before getting called up to the England Knights performance squads in both 2018 and 2019.

With that much experience under his belt, we are very excited to see what he can do in a Canes shirt for the next two years!

CanesTV spoke with Oliver on joining the club:

“I’m really excited to be joining the club. Having known Mark and Leigh from my days at Bradford Bulls, and Mike and Eorl from my time at Huddersfield Giants, it was a no-brainer to become part of a team with such a fantastic squad and big ambitions for the future.

Having the opportunity to speak with Mark and Mike about the future of the club and the direction it’s heading has been really exciting. Hopefully, I can bring a bit of experience as one of the older heads in the squad.

After spending several years in Super League and the last four seasons in the Championship, Midlands represents a new adventure and presents exciting new challenges. I’m looking forward to meeting the lads and getting stuck into pre-season next month.”

CanesTV also spoke with Head Coach Mark Dunning on signing Oliver for the next two seasons:

“We’re delighted to welcome Oliver and his family to the club and the wider Canes family. After chatting with him from minute one it was clear he wanted to be a part of our project and journey, demonstrated by the fact he has turned down lucrative opportunities from elsewhere down to become a Cane for the next two years.

Oliver is an Ireland and England Knights international, which is a great coup for our club. Having known him for a number of years I’m confident he will bring great experience to our group and add to the high standards we are already setting at the club.

With Roberts equally at home in the back row or the middle and armed with a strong no nonsense approach, I’m sure the Canes faithful will have another fan favourite on their hands.”

Roberts becomes our fourth new signing announcement of the off-season following the news of Lewis Else, Danny Craven and Cian Tyrer joining the club for the 2026 season, as well as our seventh team announcement with the retentions of Todd Horner, Jon-Luke Kirby and Kieran Moran for next year. As you’ve probably guessed…we’re far from done and have plenty more announcements to bring you over the next month or so! Watch this space.

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