• Australian ruptured ligament in home defeat by Wigan
• But 25-year-old will be offered new deal by his club
Wakefield’s worst fears were confirmed today when their Australian wing Damien Blanch, who made such an impression representing Ireland in last autumn’s World Cup, was ruled out for the rest of the season with a ruptured cruciate knee ligament.
Blanch, who suffered the injury in Sunday’s home defeat by Wigan, is in the last year of his contract with Trinity. But the club’s football director John Kear said today that the 25-year-old will definitely be offered a new deal.
Kear also denied any knowledge of suggestions that Wakefield’s goal-kicking scrum-half Danny Brough could leave for Huddersfield before a rematch with Wigan in the Challenge Cup on Saturday week. “I haven’t heard anything about it,” he said, confirming that Brough’s contract at Belle Vue runs until the end of the 2010 season.
Wakefield’s chairman Ted Richardson has also denied that any move is imminent, although a drop in attendances at Belle Vue would make it difficult for the club to ignore any substantial cash offers.
Robbie Paul and Salford also suffered an injury blow today, as the Kiwi veteran has almost certainly been denied the chance to return to Murrayfield next weekend. Paul, who played in the Bradford team who beat Leeds in the first rugby league game at the headquarters of Scottish rugby union in the 2000 Challenge Cup final, damaged shoulder ligaments in the Reds’ home defeat by Hull on Saturday, and the Reds’ coach Shaun McRae has ruled him out of Saturday’s game against Harlequins – the first of seven Super League fixtures to be played at the ground over the weekend.
League is likely to be played at another union stronghold later this year with England’s international against Wales set to be staged at the Gnoll in Neath on 17 October. That reflects a deterioration in the relationship between the Welsh Super League newcomers Celtic Crusaders and their landlords at Bridgend’s Brewery Field, which could also see several of their home matches switched to other venues this summer.
Greg Bird, the Australian stand-off who joined Catalans Dragons last month after being denied a visa to play for Bradford, is to plead guilty to public mischief, but will deny charges of assaulting his girlfriend, according to his lawyer on the first day of a hearing in Sydney.
St Helens are to announce tomorrow whether they will take any action against the England stand-off Leon Pryce, who was last week sentenced to 100 hours community service after pleading guilty to assault.