Ferguson adds to Wakefield sell-off

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Wakefield have lost another player with the transfer of Dale Ferguson to Huddersfield. The highly-rated, 23-year-old second-rower has agreed a two and a half-year contract with the Giants.

Like Monday's transfer of Sam Obst to Hull, Ferguson has been sold by the administrators running Wakefield until the local businessman Andrew Glover completes his takeover. His company, Spirit of 1873, insists that the club will be in the market for replacements when the ownership formalities are finalised and a new board is installed.

"We would like to conclude the sale as quickly as possible," said a spokesman for the administrators, O'Hara and Co. "In the meantime, if an offer is made for a player, it is hard for the administrator to say no. Our duty is to the creditors."

Leeds have asked their local MP, Greg Mulholland, to look into why it is taking so long for overseas rugby league players to secure work permits. The New Zealander, Weller Hauraki, who played for Crusaders last season, is available to make his Leeds debut at Hull on Friday, but only after a two-month wait and missing the season's opening fixture against Bradford.

The Rhinos' chief executive, Gary Hetherington, wants to investigate whether the UK Borders Agency is discriminating against rugby league and delaying other sportsmen to a lesser extent.

Wigan hope to have Amos Roberts available for Sunday's trip to Bradford after he missed the match against St Helens at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff because his wife was giving birth.