Lure of Manchester swayed Salford new boy Luke Patten

Luke Patten was twice player of the year with Canterbury Bulldogs

Salford's new Australian full-back Luke Patten says he turned down Huddersfield to move to The Willows as he preferred to be in Manchester.

Patten had interest from the Giants before his move to Salford on a three-year deal from Canterbury Bulldogs.

"Financially, both the offers were pretty similar," he said. "I'm not too sure what Huddersfield's like, but I know it's not big like Manchester."

And Salford's Aussie half-back Daniel Holdsworth helped sway his decision.

"Huddersfield were pretty keen," Patten told BBC Radio Manchester. "They were probably the initial team and it came down between them and Salford.

"I tooed and froed about it a lot, speaking with my girlfriend, and obviously Daniel Holdsworth here at Salford as I was in contact with him.

"I was just checking to see how he was going as I knew they weren't winning many games, but he was really enjoying the experience and didn't have a bad word to say about it.

"I knew Salford were keen on buying new players and trying to work their way up the ladder and that it's the last season at The Willows before going into a new stadium.

"If everything goes well it could be a fantastic story."

Patten has spent over a decade playing in the NRL, having started with Illawarra Steelers and then joining St George Illawarra before the move to Canterbury in 2001.

But the 30-year-old Aussie full-back denies that his move to England was motivated by money.

"A lot of people think I came for the money," he said. "But I probably could have earned more in Australia this year than I did over here.

"It's all about the challenge for me, proving to myself that I can come to the other side of the world and be a first-class footballer.

"There is a lot of expectation on the team. But there's no greater expectation than what I put on myself anyway.

"Rugby league has been my life. I know what it takes to win football games and I can sense at the moment that we've got a good group of guys, a good vibe and I know we're heading forward."