Oldham in talks over ground

OLDHAM are talking with the RFL about where they will play next season if they win promotion to the Championship.

Club chairman Chris Hamilton has confirmed Whitebank doesn’t meet minimum standards, which have been raised significantly for next season.

There has been speculation within the game that if the RFL blocked the Roughyeds’ promotion over its ground, it would allow Keighley to remain in the Championship and sidestep the Cougars’ legal action.

Batley and Doncaster each had three points deducted for fielding ineligible players, but they were later reinstated and this contributed to Keighley’s relegation on the last day of the season. Cougars started legal proceedings against the governing body.

“Suffice to say, I have the utmost faith in the RFL to make the right decision,” said Hamilton.

“Minimum standards have been hiked up for next season: each ground must have 1,500 seats. But most clubs below Super League struggle to get four-figure crowds, so there has to be an element of realism in setting standards, doesn’t there?”



::Hamilton has responded angrily to suggestions from York that Lewis Palfrey’s biting allegation could have been a put-up job.

Oldham captain Palfrey made a complaint against York’s captain Jack Lee that he was bitten during the play-off game against the Yorkshire side. Backed by coach Gary Thornton, Lee strenuously denied the charge - after which came the widely-reported suggestion that Palfrey’s claim could be a ploy to unsettle Lee.

Hamilton hit back: “We have provided photographic evidence to back up Lewis’s allegation and the RFL considers it worthy of investigation. To even think this could be a deliberate ploy is almost laughable.”