Former York Wasps utility back Kevin Gray has switched codes to join Hull Ionians Rugby Union Club, writes Dianne Hillaby.

Gray never settled at Huntington Stadium last season after joining York from Hull KR and was not offered a contract by new Wasps coach Lee Crooks.

Gray will be joined at North One club Ionians by former Leeds Rhinos and Hull KR utility back Marcus Vassilakopolous.

Meanwhile, Crooks will be back on the big stage tomorrow when he plays in a curtain raiser before the Leeds Rhinos-Castleford Tigers Super League elimination play-off at Headingley.

Crooks will join other former Castleford greats, including John Joyner and ex-York players St John Ellis and Graham Steadman, as they take on a team of former Leeds stars featuring John Holmes, John Atkinson and Les Dyl, plus current chief executive Gary Hetherington.

dianne.hillaby@ycp.co.uk