JON Clarke says former Widnes teammate Kevin Brown is exactly the sort of character Wolves need in their squad.

Clarke captained The Wire’s new signing when he first arrived at the Vikings in 2013 before spending a year coaching him as head of strength and conditioning.

The former Great Britain hooker now fills that role with Wolves and says he is “made up” to be linking up with Brown again.

“We developed a pretty good understanding on the pitch when I played with him,” he said.

“I’d get us to where he wanted to get to, passed the ball to him, he’d do his bit and it would usually go alright!

“I’m made up he’s here. It’s going to be an adjustment seeing him in primrose and blue rather than black and white but I’m sure we’ll get used to that.

“He’s a competitor, he doesn’t like getting beat and will stick his head in where other half-backs possibly won’t.

“Kev is a family man, a good business man and goes about things in the right way on and off the field. He’s exactly the sort of character the club needed.”

Clarke made 263 appearances for The Wire before joining Widnes in 2011, where he stayed until his retirement from playing.

He says the change of club helped him during the back end of his career and thinks it could have a similar effect on Brown.

“Sometimes a change of scenery is good for you. I certainly found that,” he said.

“It can reignite you and give you an extra lift in your last few years of playing.

“Without putting too much pressure on him, I’m expecting him to have two or three really good seasons with us.

“Kev is 32 and is coming off his best two seasons so I’ve no doubt we’re getting him in at a good time.

“If you look at it on paper, we’ve just signed the current England international half-back so in terms of getting someone in, I don’t think we could have done much better.”

After joining The Wire for an undisclosed fee, Brown adds to the plethora of half-back options available to head of coaching and rugby Tony Smith.

He is likely to join Kurt Gidley as the first-choice partnership, with the likes of Dec Patton, Stefan Ratchford and Morgan Smith able to provide cover and competition for places.

Despite Wolves having Super League’s best attack in terms of points scored during 2016, Clarke feels there was still something missing and believes Brown is the man to provide it.

“As a player, he’s shown what he’s capable of at Widnes. He showed it at other clubs but he really found a home at Widnes and showed what he’s about,” he said.

“I don’t think there’s many players knocking around Super League at the moment that put the ball where it needs to go as consistently as Kev does.

“Eight or nine times out of 10, he gets that right and his kicking game will give us another dimension.

“Even though we had the best attack in the league last year, I still think we needed to improve when we got to within 20 or 30 metres of the opposition line. Kev will certainly give us some structure and direction in that respect and get us to the right areas of the field.”