Fax re-sign youngsters Butler and Nelmes, release nine more

The pair made their senior debuts during Fax’s Championship Shield campaign.

The club have also released a list of players who have officially been released; Gavin Bennion, Jake Eccleston, Miles Greenwood, Ryan Maneely, Joe Martin, Richard Moore, Gareth Potts, Adam Robinson and Tommy Saxton.

Bennion, Eccleston, Greenwood and Maneely will all be at Rochdale in 2017, Potts has signed for Dewsbury and Moore is expected to join Featherstone.

One player who is staying at the Shay, winger Will Sharp, will kick off the season later than expected after collecting a six-game ban for use of the elbow in Fax’s final game of the season against Sheffield.