Former Castleford Tigers half-back Danny Richardson signs for Super League club after leaving Hull KR
Former Castleford Tigers half-back Danny Richardson has found a new club after being released from the final year of his contract with champions Hull KR.
The 28-year-old is York Knights’ first signing since their promotion to Betfred Super League was confirmed last week. He has agreed a deal for next season after initially joining the North Yorkshire club in August on loan.
Richardson featured four times in Super League for the Robins this year and also had spells on loan at Huddersfield Giants and Salford Red Devils. He is recovering from an ankle injury sustained playing for Rovers against Leigh Leopards in July and has yet to make his York debut, though he was 18th man for this month’s Championship Grand Final defeat by Toulouse Olympique.
Having begun his career at St Helens, Richardson joined Tigers ahead of the 2020 season. A knee injury kept him out of the entire 2023 campaign and he moved to the Robins, initially on loan, midway through the following year.
Richardson admitted: "The last few years have been particularly difficult in terms of consistency. I’m ready to lock in and have a year of being injury free with no distractions. York is a club that is building for the future and I am proud to take part in that.
"Since joining the club at the back end of the year, Mash [coach Mark Applegarth], the players and coaching staff have welcomed me with open arms - making the transition easy. I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running on the first day of pre-season."
York were chosen, along with Toulouse, as new members of Super League for 2026 after narrowly missing out under the club grading system. They won the 1895 Cup and finished top of the second-tier table, but were pipped by Toulouse in the title decider.
Coach Applegarth said: "Getting Danny on board permanently is massive for us. I think he's an out and out Super League half-back and we've got great competition now in the halves with what we've got available to us.
"He slotted in seamlessly when he came in from Hull KR on loan for the remainder of the year, offering us cover in case we got an injury to our main pair then. I'm really looking forward to that competition. It's going to bring out the best in Liam [Harris] and Ata [Hingano], so I think it's just an exciting time to be a York fan with them available to us."