North Wales Crusaders head coach Anthony Murray couldn’t hide his delight after confirming the re-signing of Karl Ashall.

Ashall originally joined Crusaders ahead of the 2014 in 2014 from Halifax and enjoyed a successful spell in Wrexham before moving to Barrow Raiders in 2016, helping them to promotion to the Championship last season.

Now returning to Crusaders, hooker Ashall has signed a deal keeping him at the club until the end of the 2019 season.

Murray said: “It’s great to be bringing Karl back to Crusaders and he’ll bring some leadership to the side when we’re in the good ball areas which is something we’ve missed this season.

“He’s been here before and knows what Crusaders is about and has a great attitude which is what I’m looking for.

“What’s important is that we’ve not just secured him for the remainder of this season but also for next year - he was a player that I was hoping to target come the end of the season, so to get him in now is brilliant.

“I’m hoping that he won’t be the last familiar face to return to the club as we look to continue to build and strengthen.”

Crusaders CEO Andy Moulsdale added: “It's great to have Karl back with us, he’s a very good player who could have easily stayed at Barrow, but he wants to be playing regular rugby and that says a lot about him.”