Tykes Sign Up Salter

Salter has previously played with West Hartlepool and Blackheath in Rugby Union and also played three seasons in Rugby League's Super League for London Broncos, including playing against the Tykes' sister club Leeds Rhinos in the 1999 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley.

Salter becomes the fourth player from Bristol to move to Headingley in the close season, following Phil Christophers, Scott Morgan and David Rees.

Commenting on the signing, Phil Davies said, 'I am delighted Matt has agreed to join us and I know he is looking forward to the challenge of playing for Leeds Tykes. We have a very competitive back row now including Dan Hyde, who is currently away with England A, Alix Popham, who is part of the Welsh World Cup squad and James Ponton. Add to that our new signings in Aaron Persico and Colm Rigney and this will certainly be an extremely important part of our side for next season.

'Matt is a very strong player who has pace and mobility around the field. He has a tremendous work rate and is an accomplished tackler who has developed his style whilst playing Rugby League earlier in his career,'added Davies.

Davies has just returned from a coaching seminar in New Zealand and cannot wait for the new season to start.

'It was a great experience to go out to New Zealand and spend some time with some of the best coaches in the world. I have picked up a lot of ideas which we can hopefully incorporate into our operation. The players still have another couple of weeks off before pre-season starts and then we will be building up for what could be the biggest season ever in the club's history.'