Millward vows to leave Leigh players alone

The new St Helens coach, Ian Millward, has agreed not to poach any players from his former club, Leigh, this season.

Millward has coached at least three players at Hilton Park who he regards as capable of playing at Super League level, but he has reassured his old club that he will not make a move for their full-back and Northern Ford Premiership Young Player of the Year Stuart Donlan, the highly promising young hooker Mick Higham or the Australian forward Heath Cruckshank before the end of the NFP season, if at all.

"The only thing that might change that is if they were going somewhere else in any case," Millward said. "Otherwise, I want to give the players already at St Helens a chance to show what they can do."

Vila Matautia, one of the players pushed out of the picture by Ellery Hanley at Saints, could be set for a recall in Millward's first match in charge at Hull tomorrow night.

Millward has brought Matautia and the equally out-of-favour Tommy Martyn back into the first-team squad for training and has hinted that the Samoan forward will play some part at The Boulevard.

Meanwhile, the former Wigan and Great Britain prop Kelvin Skerrett is the latest name to be connected with the vacant coaching role at Leigh.

The Halifax football manager, Steve Ferres, has been formally warned about his remarks over the way his team's Challenge Cup tie against Bradford should be refereed, as the Rugby League continues its clampdown on pre-emptive verbal strikes by clubs.

Neil Kelly, the coach of Dewsbury, has already been reprimanded for his comments in the same vein before his side faced Leeds. "We are very concerned about this trend and we are not going to put up with it," said an RFL spokesman.

The unlucky Warrington prop Mark Hilton has been passed fit to play for the first time since breaking his arm playing for England against France in Carcassonne in November. He will come into contention for the match at Bradford on Sunday, as could another injured front-row man, Gary Chambers, who has recovered from a damaged elbow.

Brendan Magnus, the former Balmain half-back who was the London Broncos' final Australian recruit for the season, will make his debut from the bench in their first game at The Valley, against Huddersfield-Sheffield on Sunday.