THE Port City Breakers may boast the best signing of the year with boom fullback Trae Clark joining the club from the Canberra Raiders.
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The 20 year old spent his junior days with the Taree City Bulls before heading off to the Newcastle Knights to play SG Ball Cup.
From there he was picked up by the Raiders and played fullback in their under 20s team for the past two seasons.
A host of injuries hampered Clark's time on the field and he wasn't offered a new contract for 2015, prompting the move back home to the Mid-North Coast.
Having formed a strong bond with Breakers forward Dan Dumas the decision to join the Breakers was an easy one for Clark.
"We have stayed in contact and he ended up asking me if I'd like to sign with the Breakers and I was more than happy to," he said.
"I'm really keen to pull on the Breakers jersey and I'm really looking forward to my first few training sessions with the guys.
"By the sounds of things we have a really good squad and if I didn't think we had a good shot at winning I wouldn't have signed."
With Ben Sprague back at the helm and boasting the talented prop pairing of Dumas and Mitchell Fowler, the Breakers are hoping to be a force.
It's something Clark is confident of.
"My main goal this year is just to win a premiership for the Breakers and hopefully I can impress and secure a contract back with an NRL club," he said.
"I've heard of Sprague's coaching record and I'm keen to play underneath him. This year seems more exciting and there's a good feeling around the place."
The most important clash for Clark will be when he steps up to play his old mates from the Bulls.
"A lot of my good mates still play for the Taree team so when we come up against them it'll be interesting," he said.
Sprague was more than happy to take Dumas' word for it and sign the youngster without having seen him play.
"I've never really seen him play, but to see the accomplishments he's made at his age he's certainly going to be very handy," he said.
"Dan Dumas coached him for a season in Taree and has huge wraps on him so I've taken his word for it.
"He has played under 20s for the Canberra Raiders, and you don't do that without having some talent."
