North Wales Crusaders have agreed a new one-year deal with Brad Billsborough for the 2021 season.
Billsborough, who came through the system at current Super League champions St Helens, joined Crusaders ahead of 2020 from Australian side Grafton Ghosts, who are a feeder club for Gold Coast Titans.
Qualifying to play for Germany through heritage, Billsborough has had previous spells in the semi-professional ranks with Whitehaven and Swinton Lions.
Despite favouring a position in the halves, the youngster featured at hooker during his opening couple of games in a Crusaders shirt and had impressed until the campaign was brought to a halt by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
On his new deal at North Wales, Billsborough said: “I’m looking forward to it all starting again.
“I want to have a shot at one of the halfback spots, but I was happy to help the team out at nine in 2020 when we were short in that position.
“As a group, we’ve bonded really well and clicked straightaway. Like everyone else, I was disappointed the season had to end when it did.
“I genuinely believed we would’ve made the play-offs in 2020 and that’s got to be the aim again.
“I hope we’ll hit pre-season running as we all get on really well and know each other’s games now.”
Crusaders head coach Anthony Murray added: “Brad came to us with some really good references and you can tell he’s come through some decent systems.
“He’d been playing out in Australia before he joined us and had done really well.
“He’s a good trainer, committed and is a great lad to have around the place.
“Playing in League 1 with us for at least another year and gaining a bit more experience under his belt at this level will only do him good.
“He’s definitely one for the future and will hopefully be someone we can keep at the club for a number of years to come.”
