The YKK sponsored Widnes Wild are pleased to announce the new signing of forward Darmani James for the 23/24 season.

Darmani James is a new face to the Wild roster, joining from rival NIHL 1 side Blackburn Hawks. Last season he was also featured 8 times in the roster for NIHL league champions Leeds Knights and played 40 games in total last year across 3 leagues.

James began playing in the 17/18 season for Bradford Bulldogs U15 and continued through their academy set up, following through to their senior team in recent years. Darmani has played over 100 games in several leagues so far in his career, despite only being 18, allowing him to gain useful knowledge to bring into the Wild team this season.

Player-coach Joey Coulter said the following on Darmani James;

‘Damarni James comes off the back of a great individual season bringing experience from National League Champions Leeds Knights, he put up good numbers in the junior league and made his own mark in our division. Damarni adds some size to our roster, his physicality will be noticed from day one and he’s got a variety of skills to his game. He plays the game direct, makes it look easy finding routes to the net and he always shoots with purpose. I think he’s going to be very dangerous playing in this smaller rink week in week out and he’s got his whole future ahead of him. I think Widnes is the place for him to step up his point production and I’m sure Wild fans will enjoy watching this guy contribute to our success.’

Meanwhile Darmani added:

‘I’m excited to kick-start off the new season with the Wild and play alongside some familiar faces again. There is a lot of potential within the team, and I can see us doing great things this year with Joey behind our backs. I am looking forward to meeting all the fans and giving it my all for the love of the sport.’