The Barrow Raiders announce their 2024 roster while confirming Jarrod Sammut’s release.

The Barrow Raiders have shown their serious intentions for the 2024 season by signing two former Super League players this week. Jarrod Sammut, one of their finest players, has left the Championship club, and the Cumbrian team has acknowledged his release.

Sammut has played with Barrow since the beginning of the 2022 season, and he has an outstanding career that includes stints in the NRL, Super League, and most recently the Championship.

In his first season with the team, he helped lead them to a fourth-place finish, which was an amazing accomplishment considering the Raiders had just won a promotion. The 2023 campaign proved to be more challenging as they finished in eleventh place.

Sammut joined the Cumbrian club after a brief spell with Leigh Centurions but he’s played for plenty of English sides including Bradford Bulls, Wakefield, Wigan, London amongst others. He’s also forged quite the international career for Malta whom he has represented since 2006 but the 36-year-old is now left without a club after the Raiders confirmed his release. The Championship side signed both James Greenwood and Ramon Silva this week, the pair arriving after their Super League contracts with Salford and Wigan respectively both ran out.

The pair aren’t the only Super League recruits that Paul Crarey’s side have made this season though with Matty Costello having arrived after also leaving Salford Red Devils. As such the Raiders have put together a strong squad comprising of 18 players with today’s statement promising the addition of two more players for the 2024 campaign. The Raiders shared on their website: “Barrow Raiders can provide an update on the club’s 2024 squad, which continues to take shape ahead of the upcoming Betfred Championship season.

“Below is a breakdown of the situation of each member of the club’s 2023 squad going into the new campaign.” They then listed the list of players under contract, those who signed a contract extension, players that they had signed and then the departures which totalled 13 players in all including Sammut. The status assigned to Sammut simply stated “Contract expired, free agent,” which will put plenty of Championship sides on notice given the playmaker’s incredible talent.

He played 23 times for Barrow last season tallying six tries, however that was a steep drop off from his incredible 2022 campaign where he registered 20 tries in 27 games. With Sammut set to turn 37 on the eve of the season then a question hangs over whether any side will take a chance on him to go for one last dance.