Rugby League; Blue Sox offered move to Dublin

A CONSORTIUM that would like to transplant the Halifax Blue Sox to Dublin is among those reacting to the plight of the crisis-hit Super League club.

The radical suggestion is one that is on the table from potential investors in the club, but its chief executive, Nigel Wood, said: "The priority of the board is to keep professional rugby league in Halifax. We will, however, have to look at all possibilities."

Halifax have been hit by cash flow difficulties which have raised the spectre of them dropping out of the competition or merging with neighbouring Huddersfield.

But after a meeting with the Super League board of directors yesterday, both parties emerged to guarantee that the club will fulfil its fixtures for this season.

There are some within Super League, though, who have little sympathy for what they see as Halifax's poor management and prospects and would welcome them accepting a "parachute" payment of pounds 325,000 to drop into the Northern Ford Premiership.

The Hull coach, Peter Walsh, expects to become the second coach in Super League to lose his job when he meets the club's chief executive, Brian Calam, today.

Walsh, previously in charge at Workington and at Hull for two years, gave himself two matches to get the response he needed from his players. A 30-2 defeat by Castleford in the second of them leaves Hull at the bottom of the table, just below Salford, who parted company with Andy Gregory two weeks ago. The two teams meet on Sunday.

A planned meeting between Walsh and Calam was postponed yesterday because of the chief executive's illness, but the Australian coach made it clear that he did not expect to still have a job by tonight.

The Bradford Bulls intend to fill the import spot left open by the departure of Danny Peacock with an outside back from Australia.

Peacock was giving a rousing send-off from Odsal on Friday after deciding to retire on medical advice because of a second serious knee injury in a year.

"It leaves us a bit thin and we have someone in mind," said the Bradford coach, Matthew Elliott. "He is not a high-profile player, but he has played enough first grade games to get a work permit."

There had been speculation that Bradford might make a move for Halifax's Kiwi loose forward, Martin Moana.

St Helens' Paul Sculthorpe is to see a specialist today about his knee injury and may have an operation tomorrow.

Gateshead have failed in their bid to sign the Brisbane Broncos' utility player, John Plath, who has opted to stay in Australia.

Sixteen teams will go into the hat for the game's biggest ever tournament when the draw for next year's Lincoln Financial Group World Cup is made at the Savoy in London today.

A complicated system of seeding means that England and Australia will be together in one group, while the other groups will be hosted by Wales, France and jointly by Scotland and Ireland.