The axe awaits a batch of York Rugby League Club players as coach Dean Robinson prepares to chop his squad down to size for a second division promotion assault.

The Wasps boss insisted the club will start the new season with a first team squad of 24 players and a further slot for an extra recruit from Super League partners Castleford Tigers.

With more than a dozen new faces arriving at Huntington Stadium during the close season, and a pair of further signings in the pipeline, Robinson's band currently exceeds that magical figure.

The first player to leave the club was Australian forward Lyle George, who was released after one start and seven substitute appearances last season.

The coach declined to name the other players under threat but claimed the glut of players within the game was putting increasing pressure on those currently with clubs.

"There will be one or two more coming in. I can only keep a squad of 25 and I have got to keep a space for anyone coming from Castleford. Realistically, I want 24 players by this time next week. There will be casualties on the way," he said.

"I hope the supporters get behind the new guys coming in. The bottom line is nobody likes cutting players from the squad but that is rugby league at this moment in time.

"There are a lot of players out there desperate to play and if people are not performing, then there are others who are. There is no room for sentiment."

Many players are experiencing difficulty finding clubs after several sides ditched their Alliance teams for 1998, and George is a victim of that trend.

Said the coach: "Lyle was a great competitor and a great character and, personally, I could not wish for anybody better to be in training or at the club. He was a joker in the pack.

"But unfortunately he came to us when his learning curve was behind everybody else and, as a result of not having an 'A' team, Lyle's chances of first team rugby were very limited."

Robinson admitted added pressure had been applied to the Wasps by talk of expanding the first division in 1999, seemingly at the expense of the basement division.

"We have preached from the word go that it is now or never this season and the board fully support me in that," said the coach, now approaching his second season in charge of the Wasps.

"Nobody knows what future the second division clubs will have this time next year so everybody is wanting to get out of this division and into what looks a solid first division set up.

"If three go up instead of two it gives us an extra slot to make sure we are one of the three. The pressure is on. It is my job to get the squad firing on all cylinders."

The Evening Press understands that the Wasps' interest in Hull Shark's half-back Johan Windley has waned, but Robinson has turned his attention to other players surplus to requirements at the Boulevard.

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