Rugby League: Proposal for six points per match

THE GAME is to be urged to consider a radical new system for awarding competition points. The chief executive of a Super League club, who has asked not to be named for the moment, is to propose that six points should be on offer for each game - two for the first half, two for the second and two for winning the match overall.

The theory behind the idea is that it would introduce more fluidity into the league table - just as the innovation of three points for a win did in football. It is also designed to give teams who might have effectively lost a match by half-time an incentive to still strive to salvage a couple of points from the second half. "It is a serious suggestion and it is an idea that grows on you the more you think about it," said its advocate, who will be formally putting the scheme up for discussion in the near future.

Leeds are to spend pounds 750,000 on refurbishing the famous South Stand at Headingley, from which their most vocal support comes. The scheme, partly funded by grant aid and from last year's trading profit, will buck the trend of transforming standing terraces into seated stands, but the fans will benefit from improvements like new toilets and a new roof.

The managing director of Leeds Rugby, David Howes, said: "The Southstanders have played a major role in the Rhinos' recent on-field success, providing inspirational vocal backing which is the envy of Super League. Improved standards of comfort are one way of recognising a vocal contribution."

The remainder of the Halifax board has said that it will stand down if alternative investors are willing to take over. The club has suffered from cash-flow problems and falling crowds this season and lost its chairman, Chris Whiteley, when he resigned for business and family reasons at the weekend.

Keighley have confirmed that Frank Punchard, under whose caretaker regime they have won their last three matches, is to become their permanent coach.

The club sacked Lee Crooks last month and were turned down by their original choice for the vacant job, Dave Ellis, who has taken up a role with the French rugby union club, Racing Club de Paris, instead.

Crooks could resurface rapidly as a potential candidate for the coaching position at Featherstone, left open by Kevin Hobbs' resignation at the weekend, but the club says that it has received several applications and has yet to assess the field.

Last year's beaten First Division Grand Finalists have lost five of their 12 games so far in the Northern Ford Premiership, culminating in last Sunday's defeat at lowly Doncaster.