Wheeldon contract shows quality available in Army, says Roberts

Army Men’s Senior Coach Capt Mal Roberts (RLC) says that he is happy to see LCpl Lloyd Wheeldon (3 Para) sign for Doncaster Knights for the remainder of the 2021/22 season.

LCpl Wheeldon’s signing was announced by the Knights this morning (Friday, November 19^th), although he has not been included in the team which is playing Hartpury this coming weekend.

The scrum-half was a regular for Heriot’s in the Scottish Super 6 over the summer, having also had experience at Harlequins and Castleford RLFC in the last 18 months.

“I’m really happy for Lloyd, who will be at a good Championship club until the end of the season,” Capt Roberts said. “He’s been building up his experience across both rugby league and rugby union at Harlequins, Castleford and Heriot’s, and hopefully he can now have a consistent run of rugby in the first team at Doncaster.”

It takes the number of Army male players within the Premiership or Championship to seven, and Capt Roberts is looking forward to having them contribute in the red shirt in 2022.

“It’s another Army player to have a contract in either the Premiership or Championship, which reflects well on the quality of the lads who will be available for us in the new year as we build up towards the Inter-Services Championship,” he added.

“Hopefully we’ll see Lloyd in action for Doncaster really soon and I’m looking forward to following his continued development.”

Doncaster Head Coach Steve Boden welcomed his new signing.

“We’ve been aware of Lloyd’s ability for some time now,” he told the Knights’ website. “He got some great experience down at Harlequins and a taste of a professional environment. Lloyd is very competitive, which is great to have within the squad.”

Meanwhile LCpl Wheeldon can’t wait to get started at his new club.

“I’ve always been interested in being at Doncaster Knights as I know it’s a well-respected club, and being a Northern lad, it speaks volumes to play for them,” he added.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can achieve as a squad in the remainder of this season.”