York City Knights sign strapping ex-Bradford Bulls prop Samir Tahraoui from Rochdale Hornets

Knights chairman Jon Flatman strongly hinted this week that new signings were imminent and so it has proved, with Tahraoui penning a loan agreement for the remainder of the 2017 season. It is thought there is no recall clause either.

Head coach James Ford revealed he had sought Tahraoui's signing in the past and says the Algeria-born former Bradford Bulls front-rower – who has played in the last two play-off finals in League One, winning promotion last year – will bring more balance to the middle unit.

"I'm really pleased to bring Samir into the squad," he said.

"He's a player I've previewed a lot of times, with us having played Rochdale so often in the last few years, and he's a player I've tried to sign before.

"When the opportunity arose to bring him in, we moved quickly and I'm really grateful to Jon Flatman for getting the deal finalised.

"We needed to bring someone into our front row. With Bobby Tyson-Wilson unavailable and Joe Porter out injured, we ended up going with three back-rowers on the bench against Newcastle and that left us skinny in the middle.

"Samir has played in the Championship and the last few grand finals in this division and that shows his pedigree."

Tahraoui's arrival follows that of former Super League hooker Andy Ellis earlier in the season.

Asked if it suggested the club, having risen to sixth in League One after four straight wins, were now targeting the play-offs this season, Ford said: "We've not publicly stated what our goals are – we'll keep that in-house.

"There has been no talk about that (play-offs or promotion) but the club is moving well off the field on the back of doing some really positive things with supporters and sponsors. We've brought in a couple of quality players through the year and we're signalling our intentions by doing so."

Tahraoui, 26, a former junior with Cheshire amateur club Crosfields and a Great Britain Students international, was on the books at Warrington and St Helens before having a spell in Australian regional rugby with Tweed Heads Seagulls.

He made his senior debut back in Britain with South Wales Scorpions in 2013 and joined Swinton that same year, helping them avoid relegation from the Championship.

He moved on to Whitehaven in 2014 and Bradford, on a full-time deal, in 2015, spending much of that year on loan with Keighley and playing in the League One play-off final.

He joined Rochdale for the 2016 season and was a regular as they won promotion through the play-offs. He has also played in 11 of the Hornets' 15 games this season but only once in May.

Ford said: "He's an enormous fella, he carries the ball really well and has a good offload game. He forces a number of incomplete tackles and that can speed the game up for our attacking players and will bring a bit more for our ad lib game.

"Defensively he's really physical – I've seen him manhandle a number of players. I'm looking forward to working with him and helping to get the best out of him.

"He's got a lot of potential and he'll come into a really hard-working and skilful middle unit and give us a bit more balance in there."

Meanwhile, back-rower Liam Thompson has become the second Knights player to go out on loan to Coventry, following winger Tommy Brierley.

Thompson, who can also play up top, joined York from the Bears in the winter but had a knee operation in pre-season and suffered further knee trouble on his return, contributing to having few chances in the first team so far. He was a sub in Friday's win at Newcastle but has now gone back to his old club to get more game-time.

Ford said: "He needs to play regularly. He's down the pecking order here at the minute, with the form of Ed Smith, Joe Batchelor and Brad Hey (in the back row), and with us bringing in Samir, he's down the order in the middle.

"He just needs to grow fitness and form and I'm confident he will. I'll look at his performances and we'll bring him back when the time is right."