Sinfield quits Roughyeds to join Hornets!There were rumours but now it's official.
This is what the Oldham Evening Chronicle had to say before the news had leaked out about him joining the Hornets.
IAN Sinfield is leaving Oldham to seek a new challenge elsewhere in the Northern Ford Premiership.
The 24-year-old back-row forward has told coach Mike Ford he feels a move will benefit his career.
Significantly, the local lad was not involved in the last seven games of the season, including the play-off games and the Grand Final, after figuring in 25 of the previous 27 matches.
The late-season signing of Bryan Henare, plus the return to regular senior action of John Hough, Leo Casey and Ford, increased competition for places in the 17-man squad at the business end of the campaign.
Since then, the Roughyeds have signed two more forwards in Simon Knox and Tommy Hodgkinson from Widnes.
“I’ve been training with Oldham,” said Sinfield, “but I’ve now told Mike (Ford) I’m going to look for another club.
“It’s nothing to do with money or contracts ... I just feel I am in need of a change.
“Oldham offered me a new contract and I’ve been agonising over it for a few weeks, but now I’ve made up my mind and I have wished Mike and the other lads all the best for the future.
“The end of last season was a great time for the club and for a lot of the other players, but on a personal note it was a big disappointment for me: a real anti-climax.
“I was in the squad for most of the season, but I wasn’t involved in the last seven or eight games. I had to sit it out and it was a bit of a let-down.
“I’ve had a good think about it all and I have to say it wasn’t an easy decision to make. But I think it’s the right one and that’s what I told Mike.”
Sinfield, elder brother of Kevin, the Leeds and Great Britain star, joined the Roughyeds from Salford for an undisclosed fee in January, 1998.
He played in 17 of the new club’s 24 matches in its first season, but missed the first half of the next season when he was playing in France.
On his return he played nine times in the disastrous 1999 season, but in the two seasons under Ford’s command he has made a total of 46 appearances for an overall Roughyeds record of 72 senior games.
Ford said he wanted to keep him and that’s why he was offered a new deal.
“But I can’t guarantee first-team places,” he added, “and Ian perhaps sees himself in a queue behind one or two others.
“It took him a little while to come round to my way of thinking about playing and training when I joined the club, but he came on board and always gave me 100 per cent. I couldn‘t ask for more.
“I wish him all the best in his future career and I have no doubt he will prove a very useful acquisition for his new club, whoever it may be.”