YORK City Knights Ladies have pulled off another major coup after securing the signing of experienced England star Tara Stanley.

The full-back becomes the first signing the Ladies have announced ahead of the 2022 season and The Press understands that two further England internationals are set to join the Knights next year.

Stanley arrives at York with a well-established CV at the top of the women’s game, having played 13 times for England, scoring eight tries and 32 goals.

In her club career, Stanley first represented Thatto Heath Crusaders and won the 2016 Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup with the Merseyside outfit.

She then moved to Castleford Tigers in 2018, playing under York’s current director of rugby Lindsay Anfield, and was nominated for the Woman of Steel award in her debut season.

During her time in West Yorkshire, the Tigers have won a Women’s Super League Leaders Shield, reached the Women’s Super League Grand Final and qualified for two Women’s Challenge Cup finals.

Stanley becomes the latest player to make the switch from Castleford to York, following the likes of Sinead Peach, Grace Field, Kelsey Gentles and Tamzin Renouf.

Anfield said: “I’ve known Tara for over 10 years now and we’ve got a great working relationship.

"I’ve both played with her and coached her so I was delighted when she decided to make the move to York.

“We don’t have an established full-back at the moment so she will be a fantastic asset at the back.

"To add that confidence and that experience of bossing the defensive line is going to be huge for us and, hopefully, Tara will add to our ability to compete with the best teams in the league next season.

“As a player, Tara is as safe a full-back as you can get. She is great technically, defensively really strong and is really knowledgeable in that position at the back.

"She’s a brilliant team player, socially gets on really well with everybody so I have no doubt that she will fit in extremely well into the squad we are building at York.”

Stanley added: “I’m really enjoying myself at York. I’ve been here for a couple of weeks and I’ve settled in really nicely.

"Obviously, I know a few of the girls so that has helped but even the new girls, everybody has been really welcoming and I’m having a great time."