Familiar face Brady Doxey returns to Sheffield Steeldogs ready to continue his development

The 19-year-old was part of the Steeldogs’ Moralee Conference title win in 2017-18 under player-coach Ben Morgan, but spent last season at NIHL One rivals Sutton Sting, the club whose junior system he had initially prospered in.

Having impressed during what was a tough 2018-19 campaign for the Sting, Morgan saw and heard enough to offer Doxey the opportunity to compete for a roster spot in the new NIHL National campaign, which gets underway for Sheffield on September 14 when they host new Yorkshire rivals, Leeds Chiefs.

At Sutton last season, Doxey contributed 19 points, including 11 goals, in 40 games and, having remained in regular contact with Sting coach Simon Butterworth, Morgan felt the youngster was ready to step up into what is expected to be a more competitive second tier.

“We tracked his progress and saw he was putting up decent numbers,” said Morgan. “I spoke to Buttsy again at the end of the season and we discussed that if Brady was going to be progressing and pushing himself on, the new league would be a great place to do it.

“We are able to take Brady to the next level in his development. He will be competing for the 10th forward slot - we have three solid lines which are going to be open to be broken into by two to three players – he is going to be one of those players.

“He will have to work hard, but he is a fantastic young talent who, hopefully, can be similar to Liam Kirk and Alex Graham. Brady will get the chance to showcase what he can do.

“The intensity and the speed of last season’s games were far more challenging than what he would have faced than in junior hockey. That will increase again this season. It is going to be harder, faster and more skilful and he will need to make sure he is up to speed and continue to improve at the same rate as he has done over the last year.”