ARL blames Lindsay for rift

Rugby League

Rugby League

DAVE HADFIELD

The Australian chairman, Ken Arthurson, has expressed the hope that the rift with Britain can be healed, but also launched a fierce attack on the role of Maurice Lindsay in the row over Super League.

Arthurson, basking in the ARL's victory over Super League in Australia, said: "We are looking to build for the future, but there is a rift between Australia and England that needs to be healed.

"It saddens me that nobody has done more to widen that rift than Maurice Lindsay. His reputation in this country has been shattered by his muddled attempt to create a rebel competition against the ARL."

Despite that, says Arthurson, the game in the two countries can prove itself bigger than any individual disagreement - a hint that it may be possible to revive international competition between the two countries.

Lindsay, the European Super League's chief executive who returned from Australia yesterday after his failed attempt, was not available for comment.

Halifax have unveiled plans for a pounds 5m redevelopment of their antiquated Thrum Hall ground. The work, which will begin in October with the building of a new 4,200-seater stand, will take two years and will be partly paid for, the club hopes, by Lottery funding.

Halifax will be known as the Bluesox from this season, their previous nickname - the Bombers - having signally failed to catch on. "Whatever nickname we came up with offended somebody, so we went for a nickname that offended everybody equally," Nigel Wood, Halifax's chief executive, said.

St Helens will have Joey Hayes back on the wing in place of injured Alan Hunte for their opening Super League game at Workington on Sunday. Their side is otherwise unchanged from the one that beat Widnes in the Silk Cut Challenge Cup semi-final.

Broncos seek response, page 27