Warriors are pleased to announce that Karl Culley, Richie Lawson, DJ Good and Tommy Ralph will all be part of the Whitley roster for the 2013/14 campaign. Karl Culley has spent the couple of seasons away from Hillheads taking some time out of the game before linking up with the Billingham Stars last term when he picked up 9 (7+2) points in 10 appearances towards the end of the season.
The other three players where all part of the clubs squad last campaign when Warriors ended the term in 5th position in NIHL North Division 1. DJ Good enjoyed a superb year on a personal level as he contributed more than 40 points to the Warriors cause while skippering the side.
Richie Lawson’s 2012/13 season was interrupted by a number of unfortunate injuries however when he was able to ice Richie put in several top class displays for the club and ended the campaign with a save percentage of almost 90% in all competitive match ups.
Tommy Ralph joined Warriors towards the end of last season and he went onto ice in 13 games for Whitley picking 8 assists up along the way. Despite only being at the club for a short period of time Tommy established himself as a key player on all of Warriors specialist teams.
Whitley coach Simon Leach shared his opinions on his latest 4 signings as Warriors roster for next season starts to take shape.
“Karl Culley is a superb acquisition for the club he’s an experienced forward who I’ve played with in the past and he certainly knows where the goal is. Karl had a great partnership with Adam Reynolds last time they were both at Whitley Bay and that’s something we’ll be looking at for next season.
“Richie Lawson will be our most senior netminder, he’s one of the best goaltenders around in this league and he’s a crucial signing for Warriors as we prepare for the new season.
“I haven’t seen too much of Tommy Ralph as yet just when Warriors played Billingham twice towards the end of last season when he impressed me. He’s a very mobile blue liner who everyone at Whitley has good things to say about.
“I worked with DJ Good last time I was at the club he’s a great player to have around and he has proven himself to be one of the top players at this level of hockey over the last few years.”
Warriors hope to be able to announce some further signings over the weekend as Simon continue to build his roster for the coming season. The Whitley Warriors roster to date for the 2013/14 campaign is:
Netminder – Richie Lawson
Defence – Rob Wilson and Tommy Ralph
Forwards – Adam Reynolds, Karl Culley, Jamie Tinsley, DJ Good and Martin Crammond