Brown is delighted as Lunt extends Giants deal

The 24-year-old Cumbrian, who made his England debut in last year’s Four Nations Series down under, has spoken publicly about trying his hand in the NRL but is delighted to commit his future to the Giants.

“It is absolutely brilliant to sort my long-term future out at the club,” said Lunt, who has scored 33 tries in 60 appearances for Huddersfield since joining from part-timers Workington three years ago.

“We have a fantastic playing squad here at the Giants. I have a lot of friends in Huddersfield, both at the club and from the surrounding area.

“Although there was talk of playing overseas, to stay at the Giants is really important to me and so, when the club came in with the offer for me to remain here, I didn’t want to play anywhere else.”

The re-signing comes amid growing speculation over the future of head coach Nathan Brown, who will be out of contract at the end of the season and is considering a return to Australia.

Brown said on Wednesday he wanted to clear up the matter in “the next week or two” to enable the club to make long-term decisions and was delighted to see Lunt commit his future to the Giants.

“This is great news for the club,” he said. “To see him sign for the Giants from Workington and see him progress to play for England and extend his time here is good news for the club and for Lunty.

“The more good English players the Giants can sign the better. To see him and Robbo (Luke Robinson) working together along with Kev (Brown) and Broughy (Danny Brough) long term can only help the club to prosper.

“Getting players playing in key positions together for long periods of time helps have good stability in key areas.”

Huddersfield managing director Richard Thewlis said: “The recruitment and retention long term of players who really want to wear the claret and gold and be part of something very special down here is a continual process throughout all our age groups right through to the first team.”

Wakefield have allowed former Warrington winger Kevin Penny to join Championship club Widnes Vikings for a second loan spell.

The 23-year-old was a member of the Vikings’ Northern Rail Cup-winning team of 2009 while on loan from Warrington.

Penny also had a spell on loan to Harlequins last season before joining Wakefield on a two-year deal in September as a replacement for Damien Blanch but he has made only five appearances in the first half of the season.

“He has joined Widnes to allow him to play regular first-team football, something that was becoming difficult to do at the Wildcats due to a surplus of impressive players in the same position,” said a Wakefield spokesperson.