Two forwards – one from France and the other with a prominent Yorkshire club – have been targeted with Whitehaven hoping to complete the necessary paperwork by noon today.
Anxious fans, concerned over the mounting injury list and position in the Championship table, have been bombarding officials with calls and texts.
As a result Whitehaven issued a statement through general manager Amanda Hewer on the club’s official website.
It said: “The club is working desperately hard to bring in players. At the moment we are trying to finalise deals with regard to three French players and a forward from a well-known Yorkshire club. However due to injuries in other clubs there is a scarcity of players in the game as a whole at the moment.”
Subsequently chairman Tommy Todd confirmed that Whitehaven had completed their end of the paperwork for one of the French players from the Catalans Dragons feeder club UTC.
“It’s all back in their hands now and, of course, there’s a timescale involved. We need everything to be sorted by 12noon on Thursday for any players to be available to us on Saturday in Blackpool,” said Todd.
“We don’t really like to say or reveal too much until players are ours but I can understand the supporters frustrations. If we don’t say anything some of them think we aren’t doing anything.”
Any signings prior to the Summer Bash, or even after it, would be subject to loan agreements.
The French connection was complicated by the fact that UTC have reached the play-offs in the French Elite Championship while the Dragons had accumulated more injuries.
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