Last updated at 09:23, Thursday, 08 January 2009

HAVEN could have an Australian halfback playing for them this season and I don’t mean Danny Russell.

Ged Stokes has his eyes Down Under on a useful Aussie halfback but first of all the club have to make sure there are no immigration problems a-la Danny boy.

There’s is also the question of an air fare from Down Under and some intrigue over who might pay the price of the ticket in the event of a signing!

Because of the Danny Russell visa snag, you can’t blame the club for being a bit cautious and hopefully the way will be smoothed for the player to come over and have a dynamic impact, the portents at this time seem quite positive.

Haven staked a lot on having Danny Russell before he fell foul of the immigration laws, all may not be lost – Haven still await the outcome of its appeal – but the fact is that the ex-Gateshead Thunder star is already back home in Australia.

I’m all for any Aussie halfback Mr Stokes recommends – nothing wrong with the Kiwi’s player judgements so far! – especially if he’s anything like a chip off the Sam Obst block.

With uncertainty surrounding Carl Rudd’s eventual return and the fact that two other top class exponents of halfback play, Leroy Joe and Tane Manihera, are in the twilight of their careers, it’s imperative Haven leave nothing for chance in key pivotal positions.

Not forgetting for one moment that Gregg McNally has to be a prime candidate for either stand off or scrum half.

On ability Leroy and Tane are playmakers par excellence, but will Father Time will catch up with them during 2009? Hope not, thankfully they’ve agreed to carry on for another season.

Manihera, 34, has first to finish his Wigton rugby union playing commitment.

Leroy, a year younger, has been made club captain succeeding Gary Broadbent.

Smokin’ Joe retains all the skills but even if the new skippers’ legs hold out the coach may prefer him at loose forward while, regardless of position, he’ll no doubt need spelling off, as with the case of Tane.

McNally would relish playing every game and despite being on Huddersfield’s Super League books there seems every chance that he will be available to do so.

So we hope for the best on the playing front, also for next Thursday’s crucial meeting which will have a significant bearing on the club’s foreseeable future.

As we report on today’s front page, there is every possibility that a new board will be put in place, through the intervention of the club’s backers, to avoid the risk of Whitehaven having to go into administration.

Meanwhile, it looks as though the Ike Southward Memorial match, barring any snow, will finally beat the big freeze this Sunday.

Gregg McNally duly turned out, as he had to, for the Huddersfield Giants in a Yorkshire derby, going in for a solo try to put the icing on his weekend birthday cake.

But now he can look forward to fulfilling an ambition by playing in his first West Cumbrian derby.

It’s important the game is played, not just to honour the memory of one of RL’s finest post-war wingers, but also because derby fixtures may well regain much of their old lustre now the Super League drawbridge is up for at least three years.

And there’s the more immediate need of pulling in some Recre income.

I was saddened to hear of the death of yet another great Cumbrian stalwart who played in some of the toughest derby clashes on record.

Dennis Martin built his reputation at Workington playing alongside international brother Bill – not many forwards fancied facing one Martin, let alone two.

Dennis never had the same acclaim as Bill, who died in 2007, but was a redoubtable prop and a Cumberland county championship winner alongside such dreadnoughts as Brian Edgar, John McFarlane, Frank Foster and Les Moore before ending his career at Whitehaven.

It came as a bit of a surprise but the story behind the move was that Town wanted Eddie Bowman but had to offer the formidable Dennis as bait in order to get him.

Bowman never wanted to leave Whitehaven but in the end had no choice, Tom Mitchell got his man with John Coupe, from Gosforth, coming to the Recre in an exchange deal.

It did Bowman’s career no harm at all for besides playing Test rugby in the 1977 World Cup he starred for Town in the Lancashire Cup triumph the same year – a brilliant side coached by Ike.

First published at 15:43, Wednesday, 07 January 2009
Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk