Veteran Sampson faces lengthy ban after striking charge
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Your support makes all the difference.Castleford's veteran prop forward, Dean Sampson, will appear at a disciplinary hearing today, charged with striking Wigan's Adrian Lam on Saturday.
Lam was taken to hospital with a suspected broken jaw, but was later diagnosed as having severe bruising. His coach, Stuart Raper, said that the Papua New Guinea scrum-half had also lost some teeth.
The incident, which came after Lam had kicked downfield, was placed on report by the referee, Ian Smith. Sampson, at 35 the oldest player in Super League, could face a lengthy suspension if found guilty.
His team-mate, Michael Smith, and Bradford's Mike Forshaw will also face striking charges today.
Wigan suffered another casualty at Castleford, with their winger, Brian Carney, out for two months after dislocating his shoulder.
Leeds and Hull are being linked with Preston Campbell, voted the player of the year in Australia last season but unable to command a place in Cronulla's side this season. Campbell has lost his place at scrum-half since the arrival of the Australian Test coach, Chris Anderson, to coach the Sharks and is widely expected to leave at the end of this season.
The rift between them widened at the weekend, with Anderson accused of making an insensitive remark that there would have been little fuss about dropping Campbell if he had not been Aboriginal. Campbell said he was "disappointed" by that comment, but Anderson has denied any bias against the player. "The blokes around me know it's a long way from being the truth," he said.
Leeds have already signed one Cronulla player, the Australian Test centre, Chris McKenna, for next season. They are well covered at scrum-half with Ryan Sheridan and Rob Burrow and if they did sign Campbell it would almost certainly point towards the departure of Ben Walker. Walker has lost his place in the Rhinos' team after a spectacular start to the season and is wanted by South Sydney. Leeds are also showing interest in the Wakefield prop, Chris Feather.
The former Wigan and Great Britain forward, Billy McGinty, who has left his job at Sale, has put his name forward for Wakefield's vacant coaching job.
The St Helens prop, Sonny Nickle, wants to stay in Super League, despite being told that they are not renewing his contract for next season.
Widnes have signed the Great Britain under-21 winger, Paul Salmon, from Barrow. He will join them after the Northern Ford Premiership season.
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