London Broncos & Castleford Tigers - who has played for both?
London Broncos & Castleford Tigers - who has played for both?
Luke Dorn
When you think of Luke Dorn playing Rugby League in England it is difficult to think of him playing for anyone else other than London Broncos/Harlequins. Our record try scorer (109) and 6th all time for appearances, Dorn is a true club legend who spent the longest time of his career playing in London. However, despite his incredible performances for London, Dorn will also be fondly remembered by our opponents on Friday, Castleford Tigers. Similarly to Broncos, Dorn had two spells at Castleford and his time spent there was equally prolific with 64 tries in just 85 appearances.
Dorn retired from Super League Rugby at the end of the 2016 season and returned to Australia. He played for Maitland Pickers in 2017, becoming player-coach for the 2018 season before retiring from playing at the end of the year.
Lewis Bienek
The only current Bronco on this list, Bieno played for Castelford in the 2021 season. Having come through the London academy and making his debut in 2016 Lewis was quickly receiving admiring glances from numerous Super League clubs interested in acquiring his services. It was Hull FC who won the race for his signature in 2018, however it wasn’t an enjoyable spell with the large majority of his time spent there was on loan at the likes of Doncaster, Batley and Leigh.
Once that contract expired then came a move to West Yorkshire and Castleford Tigers in 2021. Failing to settle once again it was just one season spent at The Mend-A-Hose Jungle before a return to London Broncos happened in 2022. And the rest is history…
Scott Wheeldon
Born in Hull, Scott Wheeldon went on to represent both sides on Humberside. Coming through at Hull FC in 2006 where he would spend two years in the first team before a cross-city move to KR in 2009 where he would go on to spend three seasons at Craven Park. In 2012 it was time for Wheeldon to move from Hull and to the capital, joining London Broncos, where he would play for two seasons, making 36 appearances and scoring 5 tries.
Moving on from London it was a move to Castleford Tigers and he featured for the Tigers in the 2014 Challenge Cup Final defeat by the Leeds Rhinos at Wembley Stadium. Wheeldon would go on to play for Sheffield Eagles (twice) and Featherstone Rovers before retiring in 2021.
Mike McMeeken
Another famous product of the London Broncos academy, Mike McMeeken began his professional career in our first team in 2012. In two years with the Broncos McMeekan made 37 appearances and scored 5 tries. In 2014, McMeekan was on the move and it was to Castelford Tigers where he would play for five seasons and break through into the England team, making his international debut in 2017. In December 2020, McMeeken signed a two-year contract with Catalans Dragons. On 9 October 2021, he played for Catalans Dragons. in their 2021 Super League Grand Final defeat against St Helens.
Denny Solomona
A prolific try scorer that was given his first opportunity in Rugby League at London Broncos, Solomona would have a big impact in both league and union, however he would play professional Rugby League for just London Broncos and Castleford Tigers.
Solomona came through at Melbourne Storm but without playing a first grade game he moved to London in 2014. However, following relegation from Super League at the end of 2014, Solomona moved to Castleford Tigers where he would go on to establish himself as one of the best try scorers the competition has ever seen. In 2016, Solomona scored a record-breaking 37th try in a single Super League season in Castleford's Super 8s win over Catalans. The try broke a 12-year record held by former dual-international, Lesley Vainikolo. Solomona finished the season with a total of 40 tries along with another 2 in the Challenge Cup competition.
In 2016 then came a cross-code move to Sale Sharks where Solomona would quickly settle and score tries with ease. This form even saw an international call-up by Eddie Jones for England and he scored on his debut against Argentina.
Michael Channing
Another south of England born player who came through the Broncos academy, Channing will be best remembered for his spells in London and Castleford Tigers. Channing made his Broncos debut in The Championship in 2012 before moving to The Jungle in 2013. Channing would spent two seasons at Castleford playing 28 times and scoring 8 tries before moving on to Featherstone Rovers. Channing would return to Broncos in 2017 before calling time on his career.
Other players to have played for both; Luke Gale, Matt Cook, Scott Moore
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