Dalton’s Liam Paisley is back under the care of a coach he’s known almost all his life in Paul Crarey after he signed for Barrow Raiders until the end of the season from Wigan Warriors on Thursday evening.

Second row Paisley can’t wait to get started playing for his hometown club, who are mounting a valiant effort to keep themselves in the Betfred Championship in the remainder of the campaign.

The 21-year-old’s rugby league career began at Dalton, where he was first coach by Raiders boss Crarey and he came through their ranks at Kelland Park before signing for Wigan in 2014.

Paisley toured Australia with England Academy in 2016 and after progressing through the youth teams at the Warriors, he was handed a first team contract last year.

That led to a senior debut in a 19-18 against Castleford Tigers in the Super League last June and he went on to make six appearances for the current champions.

For much of the last two-and-a-half seasons, he’s been on dual registration with Swinton Lions and his final game for them was certainly a memorable one, as he scored a hat-trick of tries in their shock 20-18 win at second-placed Toulouse last Saturday.

Paisley is the second recent new arrival at Barrow, after the signing of half-back Ben White from Halifax last week.

On his return to familiar territory, Paisley said: “It’s my hometown club and when the opportunity arose, I just wanted to jump at it, really.

“I’ve been under Cresta since I was five at the amateur club at Dalton, so when he came in for me, I thought it would be a great opportunity and he knows me well.

“I think [rugby director] Andy Gaffney has been after my signature for a few weeks and he’s been on to Wigan and this just felt like the right time and [agent] Dave Peet has done a good job for me – he’s got me down here and Gaffs is happy and I’m happy.”

An ankle knock may prevent Paisley from making his debut away at Featherstone Rovers on Sunday, but he is set to play his part in what is going to be a busy week for the Raiders.

After next Wednesday’s 1895 Cup quarter final against Leigh Centurions at St Helens, it concludes with the visit of Toulouse, giving Paisley a quick reunion with the team he ran ragged with Swinton.

Paisley said: “I’m hoping there’s more to come and that it wasn’t just a fluke and hopefully I can get another couple [of tries].

“But it doesn’t really matter for me who scores the tries, so long as we’re winning and as long as I play well and the team plays well, that’s all that matters.”

Gaffney is delighted to have brought one of the most talented young Cumbrian players back to the area in what is a further boost to Barrow’s chronically injury-hit squad.

He said: “Liam’s a really good kid and obviously he’s been known from a very early age – Cresta coached him at Dalton from the age of five, so he’s followed his career around. It’s really good to get the best players in Cumbria back playing for Barrow, which is what we strive to do.

“There’s a lot of good local talent around and to have Liam back – especially after he scored a hat-trick against Toulouse last week – he can score tries at any level and he’s a good athlete with a good engine on him and his defence is great."