St Helens target retired Lyon

St Helens are attempting to talk the former Australia centre, Jamie Lyon, out of premature retirement to fill the void left by the sale of Martin Gleeson.

St Helens are attempting to talk the former Australia centre, Jamie Lyon, out of premature retirement to fill the void left by the sale of Martin Gleeson.

Lyon told his club, Parramatta, earlier this year that he was disillusioned with the game and was retiring at the age of 22.

Since then, he has been living in the New South Wales country town of Wee Waa and playing in the local league.

Ian Millward, the Saints' coach, has been promised money for a new centre to replace Gleeson, who was sold to Warrington for £200,000 after being banned for the rest of the season for betting irregularities, and the club's chief executive, Sean McGuire, admits that the search is on.

"We are actively looking for a centre and we have made enquiries about Lyon,'' he said.

Widnes, who confirmed Stuart Spruce as their coach for the rest of the season this week, hope to have both Julian O'Neill and Willie Peters fit for this evening's crucial relegation battle at Salford.

The former Wigan and New Zealand coach, Frank Endacott, will arrive next Wednesday to help Spruce with the assessments of the club's needs for the future. Salford have continued their own forward planning by signing Junior Langi from Parramatta for next season and resigning Kevin McGuinness for another three years.

Super League's bottom club, Castleford, need to win at Huddersfield tomorrow if they are to spark their own survival hopes.

Leeds can move closer to finishing the regular season on top of the table for the first time in 32 years if they win at Warrington.

David Furner and Andrew Dunemann are both out injured while the Wolves are without Mike Forshaw, who had a scan on his knee yesterday.

Wakefield, who are at second-placed Hull, have started new contract talks with their captain, Gareth Ellis, even though he has over a year of his current deal to run.

Super League is in line to show its best-ever attendance figures this season. The average gate per game is up by seven per cent on last year, which was the best to date.