Harvey quits in wake of defeat

The Salford City Reds coach, John Harvey, has quit the club in the wake of his side's 70-4 Super League defeat at Wigan yesterday. The Australian tended his resignation following talks with the Reds chief executive, David Tarry, and has been replaced by the assistant coach Steve McCormack.

"I went to see John yesterday morning and, after an open and frank discussion, he felt he should resign," said Tarry. "He felt it was the best thing for the club, for both John Harvey and Salford.

"We have been grooming Steve McCormack for the last six years. He is one of the leading British coaches in the game. The idea was for him to take over from John, probably at the end of the season, and we have now accelerated that process."

Harvey, whose contract was due to expire at the end of the season, becomes the fifth coaching casualty of Super League VI, following in the footsteps of Stuart Raper (Castleford), Frank Endacott (Wigan), Dean Lance (Leeds) and Gary Mercer (Halifax).

The elevation of McCormack takes the number of English coaches in Super League to five, including Wakefield's Australian-reared John Harbin.

The Hull full-back, Steve Prescott, showed no sympathy to his former club, rattling up 24 points as Wakefield crashed to their ninth successive defeat yesterday. Hull tightened their grip on a Super League top five place by going five points clear of fifth-placed Leeds.

Hull, who have a daunting trip to Wigan next Friday, might easily have passed the 50 mark and would have but for a couple of handling errors. They dominated the game, however, and virtually had it in the bag by half-time, when they led 20-6.

Prescott's two tries and eight goals were the highlight of this impressive performance but the good news for Hull is that teenage centre Richard Horne has ended his try drought. He bagged a couple after failing to score for the last two months.