Hull KR chairman Neil Hudgell says the days of his Super League club chasing big-name signings from Australia are over.

Although, Hudgell expects “a couple” of new additions from the NRL next season, he insists there will be no repeat of the Willie Mason saga.

Last year Hull paraded the former Australian Test forward as one of the biggest signings in their history but Mason played only six matches before the club cut their losses and released him.

“We aren’t in the market for big names,” Hudgell told the Hull Daily Mail.

“We can’t afford them, given how the market is.

“They don’t necessarily bring you what you expect and don’t always deliver value for money.

“We tried hard to retain Shannon McDonnell for next season but we couldn’t get anywhere near the terms he was offered elsewhere.

“We also expressed our interest in St Helens centre Michael Shenton but the numbers involved again were beyond what we were prepared to pay.

“We are now at a point in the development of our club where we need to flip strategy and look to build more from the bottom upwards.

“I think our fans recognise and understand that and would look to support the principles behind it.

“At the end of the day we are a community club and to have a core of local players at the heart of that is ideally where we would like to be.”