Widnes on horizon after Stankevitch exit rattles Doncaster

Dave Hadfield
Saturday 01 December 2007 01:00 GMT
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.

Doncaster have called a crisis meeting following the sudden resignation of their coach, John Stankevitch. The former St Helens forward was only appointed this summer, but has now left the National League One club, citing family and travel problems. He is expected to re-emerge as the assistant coach to Steve McCormack at Widnes, the other club for which he played during his career.

Widnes, under their new ownership, are rebuilding and this week has seen them recruit two props with Super League experience Jim Gannon from Hull KR and Danny Hill, who has been released by Wigan.

The Rugby League has congratulated Castleford on the success of their planning application for their new ground. Although the planning permission limits capacity to 13,000, Cas hope to expand it to 15,000.

Wigan have put six of their brightest prospects on full-time contracts for next season. They include the Tomkins brothers, Joel and Sam. "A key part of our strategy is to give young players the opportunity to progress to the first team," said the new Wigan chairman, Ian Lenagan.

The chairman of the New Zealand Rugby League, Andrew Chalmers, has resigned amid recriminations about his year in charge. Chalmers presided over the 3-0 whitewash by Great Britain and has been accused of running up a large financial deficit. He has cited family and business pressures for his decision and has been replaced by Ray Haffenden.

Graeme Thompson has been appointed England team manager, to work alongside the coach, Tony Smith, in preparing for next year's World Cup.

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