Rochdale in turmoil after Hall resigns

Rochdale Hornets, founder members of the Rugby League, are in crisis after the collapse of a consortium's bid to take over the club and the resignation of their coach.

Martin Hall, the current Coach of the Year in National League One, had been the driving force behind the consortium, whose bid fizzled out over the weekend when the deadline it had given to the club expired.

"Nobody seems to have any better ideas and, with my contract about to run out, I couldn't see any way forward," Hall said.

"It leaves the club in a mess," Ray Taylor, the Hornets' chairman, said. "The plan would have been a breath of life for us and now we have lost a very good coach as well."

Hall, who had steered Rochdale into third place in the division for the last three seasons, has been linked with Hull KR, where Steve Linnane resigned last week, but he says there has been no approach.

His former club has already rejected a take-over bid from Rochdale football club, with whom they share their Spotland ground, and may explore a new share issue.

They have only a handful of players contracted for next season and have already seen a number leave for other clubs. The latest is the former Salford forward, Paul Southern, who has joined Oldham on a one-year contract.

Elsewhere, the Great Britain captain, Andy Farrell, has had an exploratory operation on the left knee that plagued him thoughout the last two months of the season, including the series against Australia.

The London Broncos have flown to their winter camp in Dubai with three new additions to their squad - two young English players in Lee Sanderson from Leigh and Sheffield's prop, Mitch Stringer, as well as the centre, Mark O'Halloran, from Wests-Tigers in Australia.

Sanderson, a scrum-half, appeared in this year's NL1 Grand Final, whilst Stringer, who comes from Yeovil, played in the NL2 equivalent. They bring the Broncos' new signings for next season to 11, most of them British.

They join the party that will spend the next two months in the Gulf, which will include the side's participation in the Dubai Sevens in December - the first rugby league side to feature in the tournament.

"It's a very important time for us over the next few weeks," said their coach, Tony Rea. "We've got so many new faces in the squad and it's obviously important that we get together well as a group."