Looks like thunder: Super League new-boys eye Wasps pair

Mark Cain

The Tynesiders have had the talented York Wasps half backs watched in recent weeks after a sparkling run of form last month which spurred the Wasps to fourth place in the Northern Ford Premiership.

A Gateshead source confirmed stand-off Cain and scrum-half Callaghan were among several players the club were "keeping tabs" on but so far their interest had gone no further.

Wasps chief executive Jim Race said they were aware of Thunder's interest but revealed there had been no official approach for either player. He said: "Mark Cain has had some exceptionally good games and had a number of man of the match awards in the rugby league papers so clubs are bound to have had a look at him.

"If a Super League club came in he would be the first person to be informed and we'd get his reaction before any decision was made. York Rugby League Club are not in the habit of selling their best players off cheaply but we're not in the habit either of standing in the way of players bettering their careers."

Race revealed they had received one written enquiry about Cain's availablilty from a Northern Ford Premiership club several weeks ago and Cain had been informed. But they had told the club concerned he was contracted for two years and their approach was "dismissed out of hand."

He said they were also aware of interest in Callaghan from two Super League clubs, including Gateshead.

Cain, 23, and Callaghan, 22, have been two of the star performers for the Wasps this season. As well as being one of the main play-makers and a fine kicker, Cain has also weighed in with eight tries and his consistent displays have caught the eye of several Premiership coaches.

Callaghan's rise has been meteoric since moving to Huntington Stadium from amateurs York Acorn at the start of the year. After beginning his professional career on the substitutes bench, York coach Dean Robinson switched the former BARLA international to the unfamiliar role of scrum-half and the decision has proved inspired.

But in 20-year old Australian Willie Peters, dubbed 'the next Peter Sterling', Gateshead have one of the most promising scrum-halfs in the league and chances for Callaghan in that position would be limited.

Gateshead have made a big impact in their first year in Super League despite fears that a rugby league club would not take off in the North East.

Coached by former St Helens boss Shaun McRae, they are currently in sixth place and still on course for a place in the end of season play-offs. But their squad is made up almost entirely of Australians and the addition of some quality English players would be a massive boost to their hopes of long-term success on Tyneside.

Chances for Callaghan would be particularly limited at the Thunderdome though, with Gateshead's first choice scrum-half Willie Peters, who is just 20, already living up to the tag of 'the next Peter Sterling'.

Thunder today demonstrated their desire to move away from their reliance on overseas players by recruiting 16-year-old Daniel Stockings, a full-back with county representative honours, from Halifax.

Meanwhile, the Wasps could be down to just 17 players for Sunday's home Premiership clash with Whitehaven and face an injury crisis in the pack.

Prop Mike Hagan is definitely out for a couple of weeks with an ankle injury while fellow props Andy Precious (back), Craig Booth (ankle and dislocated fingers) and second row Matt Lambert (flu) are all doubtful.

Ex-chief exec blames wages for problems

by Dianne Hillaby

Inflated player wages are the prime cause of York Wasps' financial problems, according to former chief executive Phil Elliott.

Elliott, who resigned at the end of last season, claimed that when he was involved at the club a minimum of 80 per cent of all income went on paying players and coaches.

Despite an increase in News Corporation money from £90,000 to £320,000 he believes that while the Wasps continue to pay "artificially high levels" to staff they will struggle.

In response to a supporter's letter printed in the Evening Press asking for answers to the Wasps cash crisis, Elliott said: "With this significant income you would expect the board to make a better job of running the club. However, there is one spanner in the works which is not just a current issue but an issue that has always blighted York Rugby League Club and many sporting clubs whether it be rugby league, rugby union or football clubs and that is players wages and coaching staff wages.

"York Rugby League Club spends a minimum 80 per cent of all its income on players and coaches' wages. The remaining income is spent on supporting the players' infrastructure for training, physiotherapists, buses and meals for away matches.

"So where does all this extra income go? It goes directly to the players and coaching staff with additional costs this year for a chief executive and associated backroom staff.

Therefore, if there is a financial problem at the club it is because the wage bill is too high.

The lurching from crisis to crisis in the media and the resultant short term fixes are only addressing the symptons and not the causes."

Quoting figures from his time as chief executive, Elliott revealed that money paid out to a player could be anything from £200 to £500 a week, depending on their status.

He said: "At these artificially high levels I personally find it insulting as a donator to the club to see the players calling strikes for non-payment of wages. If they were paid allied to their income generation for the club, ie Sky money, home supporters paying and associated sponsorship, they would generate around £6,000 per month rather than the monthly wages bills of around £25-£30,000."

Elliott reserved some criticism for coach Dean Robinson over his comments about the new wealth of the club, made after the defeat at Dewsbury. Elliott believes it is Robinson's decisions on which players to bring to the club and what to pay them that is partly to blame for the current situation, while the board of directors do not deserve to bear the brunt of fans' frustration.

"The board are a collective of volunteers whom receive no payment for their efforts. Indeed they have to purchase £5,000 worth of shares for the privilege and then at various junctures donate money to the club to keep it going," said Elliott, himself a former director.

"Far from being told to get their act together they should have their minds examined for doing what they do and then be the brunt of all criticism.

"Perhaps if the players and coaching staff had more realistic earning views and were paid what the club could afford then stability would ensue.

"While nothing changes on this front you will continually to see headlines such as 'Wasps in a jam' as there is just not enough money to pay the players and coaching staff at this level."

And he fired a parting good luck message to the current board: "I wish the long suffering directors of the club well in their lonely cause of trying to keep professional rugby league in the city of York, it seems they can please nobody while spending their money on it."

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