Hunslet upset after their former player Zach Braham joins League One rivals Doncaster

Braham was “reluctantly” released by the Parksiders less than two weeks ago, but they claim joining Doncaster breaches that agreement.

The club will not reveal the conditions of Braham’s release - or his reasons for asking to leave - but a statement said: “Hunslet will always place players’ health and well-being first when being asked for compassion and did so in this instance.”

The statement added: “We are extremely disappointed on behalf of our supporters, the owners of our club, to see Zach has been registered by the RFL and has been named in the 21-player squad for our rivals Doncaster in this weekend’s fixture.

“Suffice to say this breaches the agreement we had with Zach and contradicts his reasons for requesting and requiring a release from Hunslet.

“The RFL have agreed that the conditional release was unambiguous and that it is enforceable.

“However, under their own rules [they] are powerless to decline a released player’s registration request by a new club.

“As the only course of action available to the club to enforce the release conditions would be to seek injunctive relief through legal channels, we have chosen to take an alternative course of action and focus instead on Alan [Kilshaw, Hunslet’s coach] and the squad investing our time, energy and limited resources into positively affecting the fortunes of the Myrtle and Flame for rest of the season.”

The statement stressed: “We are looking at ways to better protect the club in future from similar circumstances whilst wishing to maintain as a priority our belief in good faith and taking players’ undertakings on face value.”

Meanwhile, Hunslet centre Tom Ashton has joined Rochdale Hornets for an undisclosed fee.

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