Rugby League: Wigan discuss Dorahy's future: Double winners consider changing coach after one season

ONE new coach was appointed, another departed and the future of a third - the most successful in the country this season - hung in the balance yesterday.

Wigan's board last night met for three hours with the manager John Dorahy to discuss his future after a first season which has brought him the Stones Bitter Championship and the Silk Cut Challenge Cup.

Twice Dorahy left the meeting to consult with his legal advisers in a nearby hotel. Dorahy refused to comment after the meeting, but his solicitor, John Fitzpatrick, said: 'As far as we are concerned, it has not been resolved at all.'

Bob Lindner, has returned to Brisbane and told Oldham he will not be coaching the club next season, despite steering them to First Division safety. Wakefield Trinity have appointed David Hobbs as the successor to Dave Topliss, who resigned last week after seven years.

Australia will play in Wales and the North-east on their tour this autumn, but for the first time there will be no match in Cumbria. The itinerary for the tour, unveiled yesterday, gives the Kangaroos matches against the top seven clubs in this season's First Division, plus Wales and the Great Britain Under-21s in Gateshead.

The tour will depart from tradition by starting under floodlights at Leeds in midweek. The first weekend fixture, at Wigan, will break new ground by being the first club match on any tour to be televised live by the BBC.

The venue for the Welsh match has still to be decided, with Cardiff Arms Park under consideration as well as Cardiff City's Ninian Park and the Vetch Field in Swansea.

The Gateshead match is part of a contract which should have been completed by playing the now-defunct Charity Shield at the town's International Stadium.

The BBC, which will also screen the three John Smiths Tests and probably the Welsh game, is locked in argument with the League over next season's coverage of the Regal Trophy. The BBC says that it has no free Saturdays on which to cover two early rounds of the competition because of rugby union tours by Romania and Canada.

AUSTRALIA'S ITINERARY: 5 October: Leeds (Headingley); 8 Wigan (Central Park); 12 Castleford (Wheldon Road); 16 Halifax (Thrum Hall); 22 FIRST TEST (Wembley); 26 Sheffield Eagles (Don Valley); 29 or 30 Wales (venue tba). 2 November Great Britain Under-21 (Gateshead); 5 SECOND TEST (Old Trafford); 9 Warrington (Wilderspool); 13 Bradford Northern (Odsal); 20 THIRD TEST (Elland Road).