St Helens may still take a Long shot at Giants

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The St Helens coach, Mick Potter, has refused to rule Sean Long out of the Challenge Cup semi-final against Huddersfield on Sunday.

It was feared that the Test scrum-half might miss the rest of the season after fracturing his jaw in a clash of heads, but he has been back in training this week and is regarded as an outside chance to play.

"We'd like to see how Longy progresses," Potter said. "He's trained, done a bit of contact work and he's keen." Nerve damage from the break means that Long is unable to shut one eye.

Saints are also keeping an anxious watch on their two hookers. James Roby sees a specialist for news on his broken hand tomorrow, but Keiron Cunningham is hinting not only at recovering from his knee injury, but also at signing on for one more season with Saints.

New Zealand have included three British-based players in their squad for this autumn's Four Nations tournament. Brent Webb of Leeds, Wigan's Thomas Leuluai and Vinnie Anderson of Warrington are all named in a preliminary 45-man squad.