Rugby League: Endacott ruled out

THE NEW ZEALAND coach, Frank Endacott, is no longer in contention for the coaching role at the London Broncos, writes Dave Hadfield.

Endacott arrived in England with the Kiwi tourists at the weekend and became the latest name linked with the job vacated by Tony Currie earlier this month.

He will be out of work himself at club level when he returns home, because the Auckland Warriors have been taken over by a consortium headed by Graham Lowe, who is installing Mark Graham as coach.

"But we have had no approach from Frank, so he is not in the running," said the Broncos' chief executive, Tony Rea.

One coach who could be is the Gold Coast Chargers' Phil Economidis, who could also be on the market if his club folds. The Broncos' directors meet today and Rea admitted that Economidis' is one name that will be discussed.

Meanwhile, London's Great Britain Academy prop, Matt Salter, has turned down an improved contract offer and is being linked with rugby union at West Hartlepool.

Wigan's Henry Paul joined the Great Britain squad yesterday to bring it up to full strength for the first Lincoln Test at Huddersfield on Saturday. Great Britain are also in camp together, although their coach, Andy Goodway, admitted that he would play his usual cat and mouse game over team selection up until half an hour before the kick-off.

"I'll announce it at about six o'clock on Saturday, not to try to keep Frank guessing, but because that's the way I like to do things," he said. "We've got one or two ideas we want to discuss with the players to see that they're happy with it."

Bradford have released their utility player, Nathan Graham, who has appeared everywhere from full-back to hooker for them, in order to get within their salary cap.

Castleford are negotiating to sign the Yorkshire-based winger, Darren Rogers, who is at the end of his contract with Salford, while several clubs are monitoring Nigel Wright, who is hoping to be passed fit to resume his career after being released by Wigan.

Gateshead have signed their first local player in preparation for their inaugural season. He is Russell Hugill, a 17-year-old back-row forward who has been playing for the Gateshead Mets side in the Academy League.

The Rugby League Players' Association has come out strongly against the proposals for midweek Super League matches next season after polling its members.