Morley a doubt for Ashes

Great Britain's Sydney-based second-rower, Adrian Morley, is out of the Test against France later this month and in doubt for the Ashes series in November.

Morley broke an arm playing for Sydney in June and has suffered set-backs since returning near the end of the Australian season.

"He won't be playing against France but we are hoping that things work out so that he is available for the Test series," said the Great Britain coach, David Waite, who has already lost two half-backs, Sean Long and Karl Pratt,through injury.

Leeds, have signed the Samoan World Cup captain, Willie Poching, from Wakefield Trinity for an undisclosed fee.

With Poching set to take Bradley Clyde's place in the second-row, Leeds have shown their faith in the ability of their young hooker, Matthew Diskin, by agreeing a new four-year contract with him.

The Rugby League Players' Association has expressed its doubts over the scrapping of the Alliance competition for reserve sides in favour of an Under-19 league. Under the new blueprint, only three players aged over 19 but under 21 will be able to play below first team level, raising fears that many players could be lost to the game.

"We are concerned and we are approaching Super League for talks," said the RLPA's chairman, Andy Goodway. "There is a danger that we may force players to go elsewhere."