Leigh Deakin is weighing up a lucrative offer to join his former York Wasps team-mate St John Ellis at Doncaster Dragons.

OFFER: Leigh Deakin

The Wasps winger confirmed he had had been offered a "very good" two-year contract by the Northern Ford Premiership wooden spoonists.

But he is waiting to see what terms York can come up with before make a decision about his future. He said: "I would like to stay here. I want to listen to what York have got to offer because I don't want to leave but at the end of the day it's a short career and you have to look after yourself."

Deakin turns 27 in December and is aware that he is at a crucial stage in his career. He has finished this season as York's joint top try-scorer, an honour he held on his own last year, and may fancy the challenge of a move to the Dragons.

Doncaster have already confirmed Ellis as their coach for next season and have big plans for the new campaign. But to mount their next assault on the Northern Ford Premiership they will need some quality players and Deakin, who has played at the top flight with Hull and Leeds, would fit the bill. They are also rumoured to be interested in York prop Lea Tichener.

Deakin was today seeing a leading knee specialist to determine if he will need surgery to repair his damaged ligaments. Deakin was injured in a tackle two weeks ago, ironically against Doncaster, which cut short his season.

He has damaged the medial ligament and possibly the cruciate ligament but will not know the extent of the injury until it is assessed today. However, Deakin said he was confident the injury would not rule him out of the start of the new campaign on Boxing Day.

Meanwhile, Australian John Strange could be on his way to the heady heights of Super League. Salford Reds had him watched against Bramley last week and could be prepared to offer him a deal.

However, there are unlikely to be any immediate developments as Strange has his mind on other issues at the moment. He marries his fiancee Adele in Las Vegas on Friday and the pair will then be spending some time in Australia with Strange's family.

Gateshead Thunder pulled off a surprise 36-32 victory at St Helens - a result which now casts doubt as to whether Saints will be able to finish above Leeds in second spot.

Deon Bird's injury-time try gave Thunder a shock win for their coach Shaun McRae, who used to coach Saints.

Don't miss Dianne Hillaby's end-of-season Wasps verdict in tomorrow's Evening Press, complete with player ratings, statistics and the final Evening Press player of the year table.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.