THE transfer deadline has been pushed back by a month to Friday August 9, the Rugby Football League has announced.

The change, which has been agreed with Super League, Championship and League One clubs, including Bulls and Keighley Cougars, takes effect across all three competitions and is a result of the scrapping of the Super 8s.

The league has also announced that the cut-off date for dual registration will be Monday, August 12 and the transfer deadline for both the Challenge Cup and the new 1895 Cup will be Friday, July 19.

Sam Allen, the RFL's head of professional operations, said: "The change in the structure of the three professional divisions this season provided an opportunity for us to work with the clubs on a new schedule which we feel will work better for clubs, players and the game as a whole.

"Having the cut-off dates for new signings and dual registration qualification later in the season will give clubs greater flexibility to manage their squads while remaining sufficiently in advance of the end of the season to avoid undermining competition integrity."