Released Castleford Tigers centre Josh Hodson has penned a two-year deal with Championship outfit Sheffield from 2026 having spent a chunk of the 2025 campaign with the Eagles.
Shropshire-born Hodson has spent the last two seasons with Super League outfit Cas having joined them from Batley Bulldogs ahead of 2024.
Making the move from the Bulldogs to The Jungle alongside head coach Craig Lingard, he found it tough to ever get any consistent game time, and played just ten games across all competitions for the Tigers.
Loan spells came in the Championship with both Widnes Vikings and Sheffield this year for the 25-year-old, who has now re-joined the Eagles on a permanent basis.
Penning a contract which runs until the end of 2027, he also links back up with Lingard, who has now coached him at Batley, Cas and Sheffield.
Released Castleford Tigers star seals Championship switch ahead of 2026
A rugby union convert, Hodson began his rugby league journey with London Broncos, coming through the youth ranks in the capital to make a senior debut in 2020 having previously spent time in the academy of Coventry Bears.
He now has 93 first-team appearances on his CV overall, with 28 tries scored and ten goals kicked: all ten of those coming in his seven-game loan stint at Sheffield this year.
As his permanent switch was announced, the Newport native said: “I really enjoyed my time here on loan last season, and when the option came up to come back, I thought why not.
“I’ve had Linners (Craig Lingard) at both Batley and Castleford; he knows how to get the best out of me and how I work as a player.
“I know what his standards are and what he’s expecting of me, so hopefully it makes it really easy for me to kick on straight away here.”
Also able to slot in on the wing or in the back-row if required, Hodson will play for Sheffield in a 21-team division next year all being well as the Championship and League 1 are set to merge.
Full details of that merger are still to be confirmed by the RFL, but the Eagles – who finished 11th in the second tier this year – are pressing on with both their recruitment and retention plans.