Leigh Centurions have announced the signing of Drew Hutchison on a two-year contract until the end of November 2019.
The 22-year-old former Junior Kangaroos halfback joins the Club from St George Illawarra Dragons.
Leigh Centurions head coach Neil Jukes said: “Drew is an outstanding signing for Leigh Centurions. He is a very highly rated and exceedingly talented halfback.
“Throughout his junior career Drew achieved everything he could do, with his club sides, playing for his state side and then being given the accolade of selection for the Junior Kangaroos. As well as that he showed outstanding leadership qualities for the teams he represented, which was recognised when he was handed the captaincy of the NSW Under-20s in 2015.
“To achieve those accolades given the hugely talented pool of players in Australia shows how highly regarded he is and how sought after he was.
“Unfortunately, just as he was breaking into the first-grade side he got an injury setback in 2017.
“From speaking to Drew he is very ambitious to achieve many more things in his career. The fact he has chosen Leigh Centurions, ahead of interest from many other clubs shows how far we have come as a club in the past few years.
“Drew will be an instrumental figure for Leigh Centurions in 2018 and beyond. He has all the qualities to forge a senior career as outstanding as his junior career.”
Leigh Centurions owner Derek Beaumont said: “Drew is one I really wanted to land and I was as relieved as I was pleased and excited when Kez (Head Of Rugby Keiron Cunningham) forwarded me his contract.
“A Junior Kangaroo and State of Origin junior, Drew has been the main man all the way and indeed earned the 7 shirt at St George only to suffer a setback.
“He is really looking forward to being part of the young, energetic team that we are building at the Club to earn our place back in Super League, where we can kick on to great things. At 22 I am excited by what Drew has achieved and even more so by what he will achieve going forward.”