Warriors in for Deacon?
Wigan could be set to make an audacious move for Bradford scrum-half Paul Deacon.
The Evening Post understands that Deacon, 30, has emerged as a
possible target for next season.
On the surface, a swoop for Deacon would appear unlikely given Wigan have Four Nations stars Thomas Leuluai and Sam Tomkins in their ranks.
But it is thought a move to the DW Stadium could include a coaching role with the club's juniors – while also providing half-back cover for Leuluai and Tomkins in Michael Maguire's first-team.
Neither club would speak about the link yesterday, with Wigan chairman Ian Lenagan maintaining his stance of not commenting on rumour or speculation. Bulls football manager Stuart Duffy said only: "I couldn't possibly comment."
Deacon still lives in his home-town Wigan. A former Hindley amateur, he was overlooked as a youngster by Wigan and started his professional career at Oldham before making his mark at Bradford.
Maguire has made Shaun Wane his assistant coach and Mark Bitcon has come in to oversee strength and conditioning.
Kris Radlinski and John Pendlebury are poised for roles in Maguire's new-look coaching team but it's thought that Phil Veivers – Brian Noble's former assistant – has left the club, though there has been no
official comment.
Meanwhile, Wigan will discover next Wednesday who they will face at next May's Murrayfield Magic – and there's a good chance they WON'T be facing St Helens in the on-the-road fixture.
Warriors have faced Saints in all three Magic events so far. The first two, at Cardiff, were contrived fixtures to help get the concept off the ground while last season, Wigan were drawn against their arch-rivals from a pool of four teams.
But for next season, the 14 Super League clubs are split into two pools – last season's top eight sides in one to make up four fixtures, and the bottom six providing three further fixtures – meaning Saints are just one of seven possible opponents that Wigan may be drawn against.
Warriors will be in the same pool as St Helens, Leeds,
Catalans, Huddersfield, Hull KR, Wakefield and Castleford.
The draw will be shown live on Sky Sports News shortly after 1pm, though a decision on Magic Weekend dates will not be confirmed until later.
The Super League fixtures for the 2010 season will also be published next Wednesday. The official Round One of the competition, featuring all 14 clubs, will be on the weekend of February 6 and 7.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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