Wigan in need of cup glory after points deduction

Dave Hadfield
Saturday 28 July 2007 19:00 EDT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

For just a couple of hours this afternoon, Wigan will be able to put aside their status as the game's leading salary-cap defaulters and concentrate on recovering lost glories in the Challenge Cup.

The British game's most famous club were docked four points this week for exceeding last year's spending limit by almost £225,000. They are generally seen as having got off lightly after seeming to be in line for a 12-point deduction.

Losing four points is not likely to embroil them in a repeat of last year's relegation battle, but it will make it desperately hard to do anything in the play-offs, even if they qualify for them. Hence the emphasis on today's Cup semi-final.

Catalans Dragons' form has been poor of late, but in Stacey Jones the French have the epitome of a big-match player. The Dragons have suffered one blow, however, with the loss of their goalkicking full-back Thomas Bosc with a broken arm.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in