Linnane is the fall guy after rout by Saints

Halifax have sacked their coach, Steve Linnane, and hope to have his successor in place tomorrow to continue their fight against relegation.

The Australian, previously in charge at Rochdale Hornets, stepped up from being assistant coach when Gary Mercer resigned in 2000, but has found the job difficult, with limited playing resources and recurrent financial problems. Halifax have won just one of their last 10 games and are ninth in Super League, only three points above last-placed Salford with four games to play.

Their dismal run culminated in a 64-0 defeat at St Helens on Friday night, after which Linnane said: "Even if we'd played to our best we would have lost 40-0". Linnane has a year to run on his contract and is understood to be taking legal advice. Those interested in taking over from him could include Peter Roe, recently sacked by Wakefield, Steve McCormack, the former Salford coach, Billy McGinty, previously assistant coach at Wigan, and Leigh's Paul Terzis.

St Helens displayed their title credentials in ruthless style as they hit the top of Super League. Fresh from last week's impressive win over their chief rivals, Bradford, Saints leapfrogged the reigning champions into pole position and boosted their points difference at the same time with an 11-try rout.

"We've gone up another gear in recent weeks," said coach Ian Millward. "It was an easy night for a coach." Great Britain star Paul Sculthorpe finished on 24 points with a try and 10 goals from 11 attempts, while the three-quarters Sean Hoppe and Paul Newlove each scored two tries as Saints piled on the agony for the struggling Blue Sox.

Wakefield's relegation fears also deepened after they lost 30-16 at home to Leeds, but they showed the necessary fighting qualities to come back from 24-0 down. Home fans feared the worst when the rampant Rhinos ran in four tries in the first 16 minutes, but the Wildcats stemmed the onslaught by half-time and scored all the points in a fiery second half.

Keith Senior was the star of the opening quarter as he scored one try and made another, but he faded along with his team-mates as Wakefield battled back. Andrew Frew and Chris Feather added tries to Martin Moana's first-half effort.

In Australia, the National Rugby League's punishment of league leaders Bulldogs for breaching salary cap rules has sparked controversy. The Bulldogs had been leading with just three weeks left, but the NRL stripped them of all the points for their 18 wins and one draw, leaving them bottom of the league. The club's nine-man board have resigned.