Wakefield given time to repay creditors

Wakefield Trinity's immediate future is assured after their major creditors agreed to wait for the money they are owed.

Wakefield Trinity's immediate future is assured after their major creditors agreed to wait for the money they are owed.

Trinity, who have debts of around £4m and sacked half their squad as a cost-cutting measure, have persuaded SCG Rovacabin, who built a hospitality stand at Belle Vue, and the local council to enter into a Creditors' Voluntary Agreement that will give them breathing space.

"It's excellent news," said the club's chief executive, Stuart Farrar. "The creditors accepting the CVA proposals will enable the club to continue to operate."

One of the players released by Trinity, Martin Masella, has joined Warrington, paying tribute to the Rugby League for removing him from the overseas quota as a compassionate measure.

Wigan's coach, Frank Endacott, has taken the unusual step of not allowing any of his players to watch the video of their 54-16 defeat by St Helens in last Friday's play-off match.

Wigan, who are preparing for their second bite of the cherry against Bradford on Saturday, would normally study their previous performance in detail, but Endacott has decided to keep this particular video nasty off the screen. "It would have been the wrong thing to do if I wanted to keep them in a positive frame of mind," he said.

Endacott has added Simon Haughton, Wes Davies and David Hodgson to the 17 who lost to Saints, but drafting Haughton on to the bench is the only likely change. The Bulls' coach, Matthew Elliott, will also select from 20. "I'm going to have to give the bad news to three people," he said.

St Helens, who will meet the winners of the match in the Grand Final at Old Trafford on 14 October, have high hopes of having Paul Newlove fit, despite a knee ligament injury sustained early in the victory over Wigan.

The Australia coach, Chris Anderson, has perplexed many in his own country by claiming that a merged code of rugby "makes sense". Anderson, currently preparing his side for the Test against Papua New Guinea on Saturday, was described as a "lone voice" by the chief executive of the National Rugby League, David Moffett, himself a convert from the NZRU.

The Rugby League Council has confirmed that Lancashire Lynx, to be known once more as Chorley, will be in a 19-club Northern Ford Premiership, the fixtures for which will be announced this weekend.