TONY Smith has hinted that Rhys Evans’ new five-year contract was partly a result of keeping rugby union clubs from the Wolves’ door.

With Evans exploding into the public eye with his man-of-the-match performance against Leeds last month, the club have been keen to look after the 18-year-old threequarter with an improved contract and extended contract that will also act to ward off interest from the 15-man code, which is showing a tendancy to snatch young, talented rugby league players.

Smith said: “I am not going to lie and say there isn’t a threat from other codes rather than other teams.

“I wouldn’t have thought that Rhys would have been talking to many clubs at this stage, with so long left on his old contract.

“However, I know he’ll be on rugby union’s radar as one of our bright and hopefuls.”

Wolves are keen to prevent Evans from following other rugby league stars such as Klye Eastmond and Chris Ashton into rugby union, which has the financial clout to tempt players away from many Super League clubs.

Smith said: “We are confident that he is going to be a very good player.

“He is already good but we are sure he will get better in the long run and we want to take care of him, look after him and make sure that he feels that Wolves is where he belongs.”