WOLVES’ signing of England international half-back Kevin Brown will be their last before the 2017 Super League season, head of coaching and rugby Tony Smith has confirmed.

Brown’s move from Widnes Vikings for an undisclosed fee was confirmed on Friday, with the 32-year-old signing a two-year deal.

He becomes The Wire’s fifth new addition ahead of Super League XXII and Smith confirmed he is now happy with his squad, which he believes is stronger than last year.

“We’re done now in terms of recruitment. The guys have been excellent and are looking really strong,” he said.

“We think we’ve added more talent and character so we’re excited about our prospects. It’s important that we’ve improved.

“We took a few risks on a few people last year and we had an okay year.

“Your depth always gets tested at some stage so it’s important to be prepared for that and we feel we’re as prepared as we can be.”

Brown joined England teammate and fellow new recruit Mike Cooper in returning to training at Wolves’ Padgate base earlier this week, with Scotland international Matty Russell also rejoining the squad.

Wolves’ other three signings, Matty Blythe, Dom Crosby and Andre Savelio, had already joined up with their new teammates and Smith feels the recruits have settled in superbly.

“Everybody has fitted in well and are upstanding young men. The people we’ve brought in have really added to our leadership as well as our talent pool,” he said.

“They are training really well, most coaches will tell you that at the start of each year but I genuinely believe we are stronger as a squad.

“We’ll still get tested in many areas but we’re a much stronger squad in many respects than last year.

“We’re excited about what we’re doing, about the vibe around the place and the hunger that we’ve got to produce a successful season.”

Smith also said he expects the majority of those who had post-season operations to be fit in time for their opening Super League game, which sees them travel to Catalans Dragons on Saturday, February 11.

Skipper Chris Hill went under the knife to correct hernia and shoulder injuries, while Ryan Atkins (hand), Dec Patton, Brad Dwyer (both wrist) and Kevin Penny (ankle) also had injuries operated on.

However, Stefan Ratchford and Ben Currie both had knee operations and will miss chunks of the 2017 campaign.

Ratchford should return from a lateral meniscus tear in March, while Currie’s ACL reconstruction is set to keep him out until June.