Whitehead back with the Dragons in 2025

Catalans Dragons have announced the star signing of Elliott Whitehead for the 2025 season.

The Canberra Raiders captain, who played for the Dragons from 2013 to 2015, will come back to Perpignan next year.

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L'actuel capitaine de Canberra, passé au club de 2013 à 2015, fera son retour à Perpignan la saison prochaine.

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— Dragons Catalans (@DragonsOfficiel) July 11, 2024

Whitehead said: "Having seen how Catalans have grown since I left, I can’t wait to come back and hopefully help bring some more success to the south of France."

Born in Bradford, Whitehead made his professional debut in his hometown club with the Bulls in June 2009 under Steve McNamara. After a first season where he played seven games in Super League, he quickly became a key player of Bradford, making an average of 26 appearances and scoring six tries per season.

After having played more than 100 Super League appearances with the Bulls, he joined Catalans Dragons during the 2013 season where he became a major player of Laurent Frayssinous’ squad. After a year of ajustement, he had a excellent 2014 season, scoring 18 tries in 28 games and an equally satisfying 2015 season with 13 tries in 32 appearances.

Having reached the end of his contract, he left south of France to join Australia at the age of 25, signing for Canberra Raiders in 2016.

An undisputed starter from his NRL debut, Elliott Whitehead showed great consistency during his time with the Raiders, playing an average of 24 games per season. At the end of a remarkable 2019 season, he played his first NRL Final, beaten by Sydney Roosters.

After 9 seasons with the Raiders, the Canberra captain since 2021 has scored 43 tries in 198 NRL appearances.

An England international since 2014, Elliott Whitehead has represented his country 36 times, playing in the World Cup twice, in 2017 and 2022.

Steve McNamara commented: "Elliott is a great signing for the Dragons. His quality, experience and leadership will be a huge asset for us. His rugby league instincts and intuition are something you cannot coach. We look forward to his arrival in 2025."