Leigh Centurions miss out on Aussie ace Joe Williams
9:40am Thursday 25th June 2009 in
Australian half-back Joe Williams will not be joining Leigh Centurions this season after his application for a visa was denied.
Head coach Paul Rowley said: “It’s a blow. If you are offered an NRL player you are never going to turn it down.
“But I’ve said all along that he was only ever pencilled in, and if I’d built my hopes up I’d probably be suicidal, but that wasn’t the case.
“I’m just glad to put it to bed one way or the other and we kick on from here.”
It means the Centurions look set to continue with Martyn Ridyard in the midfield.
“He was thrust into first-team action on a regular basis in such a pivotal role and the expectation on him has been immense,” said Rowley.
“I think he’s done pretty well, to be fair, although we would like to have the chance to treat him a bit more carefully, protect him and get a mentor in to help him become the finished article. It’s something that we’ve not been able to do. It’s been a very steep learning curve for Martyn and not ideal really.”
The club have been actively looking for half-back reinforcements but no new names are on the horizon ahead of the tricky trip to Whitehaven on Sunday (3pm).
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