There is an irony in his appearance for Halifax tonight because Wigan had the chance to sign him last season

There is an irony in his appearance for Halifax tonight, because Wigan had the chance to sign him last season. They hesitated and Simms, who coached Rowley at Leigh, stepped in.Wigan no doubt felt themselves well covered in the position at the time. Now, however, the Welsh hooker, Martin Hall, is earmarked for Australia, Martin Dermott's long-term fitness is still under scrutiny and Phil Cantillon has left for Keighley.Simms has shown his side an edited version of last season's 18-16 victory over Wigan to boost their confidence. Rugby League Paul Moriarty and Paul Rowley, Halifax's try-scorers in their victory at Oldham on Friday, present the threat tonight to Wigan's ominously smooth start to the season, writes Dave Hadfield. Moriarty, named yesterday in Wales' final 25-man squad for the Centenary World Cup, has begun in devastating form, due, his coach Steve Simms says, to concentration on sprint training.Rowley is not in England's 40-man preparation squad, but the national coach, Phil Larder, could hardly have failed to be impressed by his sharpness at Oldham.

I have nothing to show at 35, except that athletics can be fun.". Athletics Linford Christie reiterated his intention not to defend his Olympic 100 metres title in Atlanta next year after pulling away over the final 20 metres to win the event at the Rieti meeting in Italy yesterday. After the race, Christie told Italian television that he was likely to miss the Olympics "I probably will not be competing in Atlanta," he said "I took some sweet revenge after the World Championships. Newcastle lost their place in the Courage League First Division in 1994 and finished sixth in the Second Division last season.. "Over the past three years we have built the football club into a formidable force," he said. "Now we want to give a major boost to rugby in the North- east."Financial details are being kept private and how a members' club can be "taken over" by a commercial concern is also unclear.

Rugby Union Newcastle United Football Club have taken over Newcastle Gosforth - who are to be known simply as Newcastle - in a deal which will make the Second Division rugby club England's first fully fledged professional operation, writes Steve Bale. Sir John Hall, chairman of United, said last night that the rugby club had approached him with a view to adding the sport to the Newcastle portfolio. meanwhile, Oliver McCall is provisionally suspended from the WBC."The British Board of Council will also be looking into the incident, according to the WBC.. This is a serious lack of discipline and we are investigating the matter ... "But our valuations are a million miles apart, and unless Portsmouth drop the price the deal won't go through.''n Fernando Redondo, the Real Madrid midfielder, has been denied an international call-up for Argentina because he refused to cut his hair. The Argentine coach, Daniel Passarella, said last year he would ignore any player with long hair as it often impeded vision.. Boxing The World Council said yesterday it had suspended Oliver McCall, their former heavyweight champion, for refusing to take a drug test after his title fight with Frank Bruno on Saturday. The WBC released a statement from its headquarters in Mexico City in which it said the American fighter had "refused to submit to obligatory anti-doping tests after his defeat last Saturday to Frank Bruno at Wembley. "It is true that I have talked to Terry about the possibility of exchanging Paul for Gerry Creaney,'' Alan Ball, the City manager said.