Rugby League: Henry Paul `not on Bradford list'

By dave hadfield

BRADFORD HAVE denied any intention of signing Henry Paul despite the New Zealand international saying that he expects to leave Wigan and would like to link up with his brother, Robbie.

"He is not on our list," insisted the Bulls' chairman, Chris Caisley, yesterday, although any fans in the country would relish seeing the brothers alongside each other.

Henry feels his days at Wigan are numbered following the signing of the Australian Greg Florimo next season and says that a move to Bradford would be his first choice.

The whereabouts of the Paul brothers, plus Leeds' Richie Blackmore, in early October will be one of the main topics of conversation when administrators from the league-playing nations hold "an informal meeting" in Sydney later this month.

New Zealand could call on all three for their Tests against Australia on 9 and 16 October, but their clubs are likely to be involved in the Super League play-offs at the same time.

As well as that, the game needs to organise an international calendar to replace the one wrecked by the Super League war and its after-math. The complication is that Super League in this country, in the persons of its chairman, Caisley, and managing director, Maurice Lindsay, is refusing to have anything to do with re-forming the pre-schism international board that ruled on such matters.

Caisley has turned down an invitation to go to Sydney, but the Rugby League's leading figures, Sir Rodney Walker and Neil Tunnicliffe, are going anyway.

Lindsay is claiming to have support from the South Pacific nations, bankrolled and subsequently dumped by Super League, but the Rugby League said yesterday that its information was that all of them would be attending this month's meeting.

The job of the former Kiwi Test captain Graeme West as coach of Widnes is looking precarious following his side's 63-4 defeat by Hull KR on Sunday. Widnes are two places from the foot of the First Division and the club's directors are expected to discuss the position of the former Wigan coach at a meeting tomorrow night.

West has been in charge since May last year, having been sacked after refusing to move upstairs as football manager at Wigan three months earlier.

Bradford are playing down speculation that Matthew Elliott is on the way out of the club after he and his side were booed off the field following their latest defeat, by Sheffield. Elliott, who recently signed a new two-year contract, hinted afterwards that he might reconsider his future, but the club said that it did not expect any changes.