Workington Town prop Tunstall signs two year deal with Whitehaven

By Helen Thompson and Martin Morgan

Last updated 13:11, Monday, 22 September 2008

Workington Town prop Matthew Tunstall says he is determined to proved himself at NL1 level after signing a two-year deal with Whitehaven.

Matthew Tunstall

Ged Stokes raided his former club for the second time within a week to sign the Scotland international, who was in his testimonial year at Derwent Park.

Tunstall said: “It was too good a chance to miss to play NL1. I’m 31 now and I don’t think I will get the chance again.

“I am gutted that I have had to cut my testimonial short at Workington but this was something that I had to do.

“Another factor in signing was that I wanted to play under Ged again, I rate him highly, he is probably the best coach I have played under.

“And another thing is to play with Ryan McDonald again, he is my best mate and we played through the youth ranks together.

“I have enjoyed my time at Town, the crack was always great but I couldn’t miss this chance.”

Tunstall is in his 12th year at Town. He signed in 1996 from Broughton Red Rose and returned to the amateur club for half a season when Town were in financial trouble before re-signing for Workington. Stokes said: “He’s proved himself at that level, now he wants to test himself at the higher level.

“He’s played for Scotland and Cumbria, and this is a natural progression, to see what he can do before the end of his career.

“He’s got the potential to be a good NL1 player, and he will challenge for a spot.

“His offloading game is very good, he can drive a ball up and he’s the right size for our forward pack. But he knows it’s going to be tough.”

Haven last week lost David Fatialofa, who retired after over 10 years’ service at the Recre. But Tunstall is not seen as a direct replacement for the Kiwi, arguably Haven’s leading prop of the modern generation.

“We need a selection of props that bring different things to the team,” explained Stokes. “Fats brought a lot of variation.

“He could offload, ball-handle and tough it out as well. We probably won’t find all that he brought in one prop.”

The coach is well aware of Tunstall’s ability, as he was a mainstay of the Town pack throughout Stokes’ tenure at the club.

“He was ever-present, ever-reliable,” said Stokes, who was happy to hand extended deals to the prop and former Town team-mate Dexter Miller, who he signed last week.

“The two-years shows commitment on both sides.”