Wakefield Wildcats have secured a month-long loan deal for former France international Julien Rinaldi.
Former Catalans and Harlequins hooker signs temporary deal
Wakefield have secured a month-long loan deal for Julien Rinaldi and will hand him a debut against Catalans Dragons.
Wildcats coach John Kear made a move for the 30-year-old hooker, who is currently player-coach at Villeneuve, after a dreadful run of form.
Kear's side have won only one of their last eight Super League games and a 48-6 home defeat by Wigan forced him into a change.
The former France international now looks set to be thrown straight into the action for his new club against his old employers.
"After the disappointment of last week, we've taken some prompt action and got someone over who we feel will offer something very positive in a crucial department," Kear said.
"It's been apparent that we've had a lot of adjustments with our pivots and perhaps it hasn't worked.
Urgent
"We provisionally inquired about him last week and the performance last week made it more urgent because we didn't look as if we had any real direction out on the field.
"We were playing players out of position so we felt, with the balance of the squad, something had to be done."
Wakefield were looking for a hooker after Terry Newton's doping suspension and Tevita Leo-Latu's personal leave left them short.
Rinaldi is a former captain of the French national team and was also a member of the Dragons' inaugural Super League squad before spending two seasons with Harlequins.
"It will be difficult for him to slot straight in but he's experienced and he's played a lot of top-flight rugby league so I'm confident will be able to do that," Kear added.
"He's a good player. He was actually someone we had considered at the start of the season but we didn't have a spot available."
