Australian prop Ben Ross and versatile three-quarter Denny Solomona have joined London Broncos

Ross 33, who hails from Chinchilla in Queensland, made six State of Origin appearances during an illustrious NRL career.

He has played club football for St George Illawarra Dragons, Penrith Panthers (with whom he won the 2003 NRL Premiership) and South Sydney Rabbitohs before finishing his NRL career with Cronulla Sharks.

The front rower hung up his boots at the end of the 2013 season but was tempted out of retirement by the prospect of playing for the Broncos in Super League.

Solomona, 20, was born in Auckland and spent his childhood there, but is a product of Melbourne's youth system.

He graduated to their first-grade squad for the 2013 season following some impressive performances with the club's Under-20s.

Solomona has played full-back, wing and centre. He was released from his contract with Melbourne to join the Broncos.

Commenting on the signings, Broncos head coach Tony Rea said: “Ben retired, but the word going around Australia was that he didn’t really want to. We made a phone call and it was the easiest deal we’ve ever done.

“The guy was so hungry to keep playing. If someone has retired and you’ve got to drag them out, that usually means a week of talking to the wife and kids but this was done in an hour. This was a bloke who wanted to play. He’s a meat and potatoes prop who will drive you forward and gets all his jobs done.”

Rea continued: “Denny is a talented individual who has been really brave in his decision to come here. He’s been sitting behind Billy Slater as his understudy at Melbourne but has taken a decision to come here. This is a way of putting himself out on his own stage.

“He had a contract at Melbourne, which he left to join us, and had the full support of Melbourne and the Broncos to do that.”