I can't help but feel sorry for Rhys Evans and do not blame him one bit for wanting his contract paid out. Leigh signed him on a 3 year deal, starting 2018, and Beaumont is absolutely out of order in attempting to blame players for not moving on to likely lower deals or out of the sport all together so that the legal entity of Leigh can continue. RL players have mortgages and bills to pay like anyone else and a contract is a contract. Beaumont gambled on Leigh getting promotion, his gamble failed, now he doesn't want to pay for the consequences. Like a gambler who puts a wedge on red, only for it to come up black, and he's scrambling at the table to get his chips back. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/46131962

I can't help but feel sorry for Rhys Evans and do not blame him one bit for wanting his contract paid out. Leigh signed him on a 3 year deal, starting 2018, and Beaumont is absolutely out of order in attempting to blame players for not moving on to likely lower deals or out of the sport all together so that the legal entity of Leigh can continue. RL players have mortgages and bills to pay like anyone else and a contract is a contract. Beaumont gambled on Leigh getting promotion, his gamble failed, now he doesn't want to pay for the consequences. Like a gambler who puts a wedge on red, only for it to come up black, and he's scrambling at the table to get his chips back. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/46131962

Dead right

Rhys has a contract and Leigh should honour that contract. Like the test of us Rhys has a montage & family to provide for. As Wires71 says Beaumont gambled and lost but thats not Rhys fault.

This could be just the start of many more problems like this. Professional terms are just that & you can't expect a player to suddenly find a job to supplement his income if a pay cut or even if part time player status is called for. This must be a nightmare for clubs & staff who get promoted one year then go straight back down.

I didn't know Rhys was into film editing.

Beaumont could have put non-promotion clauses into player's contracts, which would have been a financially sound descision.

However this would have meant that the offering was less appealing to prospective players, and those players might have taken other offers elsewhere.

Had Rhys been offered 3 yrs at Leigh with a significant wage cut and/or break clause if they fail to win promotion in 2018, he possibly looks at other offers from other clubs.

Beaumont knew exactly what he was doing. To secure the talent, he offers 3 yrs on decent money. Rhys takes the best offer that suits his circumstances - in this case the deal at Leigh. It should be honoured.

Exactly as others have said - Beaumont has gambled and lost. He should take responsibility and not try and spin the story around "greedy players".

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Even Rocky had a montage...

And yet people still want relegation in superleague, rather than the qualifiers and million pound game.

Bryson Goodwin must thank his lucky stars that Wire took him off Leigh.

I've always thought the best solution was to have a small SL2 but as an enhanced championship with 2 less teams and equally share of the sky money.

It might be in essence just a name change (due to the constant system changes) as with Div1 to premiership band Div2 to championship in football...but it still bolstered the sponsorship monies by millions.

The issue is not promotion or relegation (which is essential to the lifeblood of the game). The fact is Billy Big Bo**ocks Beaumont wanted to fund a full time SL ready squad but could not/would not afford to do it if they lost the £500K parachute by not qualifying back in the first year. Sounds to me that if he had put in £1M he could have covered the club for the next 2 years but obviously he doesn't want to do that. Trying to cheat Rhys Evans out of the relative five figure chump change is a disgrace. I hope his civil action for breach of contract succeeds and Leigh will have to be liquidated to pay him out + damages + costs.

Opps, thats spellchecker for you

Unfortunately insolvency does not work like that, Rhys Evans could end up with merely his statutory rights if Leigh went into administration with no saleable assets. Much as I agree he should be entitled to a full contact payment, administration will not guarantee it and liquidation will certainly not help him.

Evans is in a really difficult situation here because he is entitled to stand his ground and fight for his rights legally but he could easily be portrayed as the villain of the piece for doing it. Either Leigh will be forced in to liquidation, or they will play next season with Evans as a full timer alongside a team of part time players on very small match fees because they have hardly anything left in a wage budget. It's a recipe for making Evans unpopular with the fans and his teammates.

Think how we would see this if it was us, if the choice was Rhys Evans' contract rights or the survival of Warrington RLFC?

I wonder if we could broker something with Leigh in the circumstances here. If Leigh pay off part of his outstanding contract, and we sign him up on a relatively modest fee to make up the rest of what he would have been paid at Leigh, he could provide cover across the back line.

I hope Evans stands his ground and demands his full wage from Leigh. The league is distorted by clubs spending money they can’t afford anyway and this is another example of it. As others have said, if Leigh had offered him a contract they could actually afford then he may have gone elsewhere.

Beaumont has been shown up as the loudmouth pillock that he is. Happy to take the adulation when things are good but sods off as soon as it gets tough.
Leigh should pay what they owe or go bust and reform in League 1.

Yes. I was working on the assumption that the legal entity he would be taking action against had sufficient assets to to cover any award. As an employee would he not be a preferred creditor ?

The Leigh fans I speak to know that it's Beaumont to blame and are right behind the 4 players taking action.

I don't think there is a scenario where the current legal entity continues and Rhys remains employed and sees out his contract term. Beaumont is hoping that Rhys and the other go away and the current legal franchise gets to start again in the Championship with a cheaper squad and a new benefactor.

I think more likely is that the legal entity will be liquidated and "Leigh" start again in League 1 within a new legal structure.

But Beaumont could settle with Rhys and the other 3 and the club be saved from liquidation. Let's see how much he loves the club.

Surely an attempt to wind up Wires71.

When Evans came through he was seen as a real star. In his early performances, with a dominant team around him, he looked the part.

After he had a bad injury he was not the same player and seemed to lose confidence and lose his way. But maybe Steve Price could bring his potential back out of him.

He wouldn't be one of my top targets but if he's getting a part settlement from Leigh and we could get him on a modest deal he wouldn't be a bad squad addition.

Evans got grief like Hughes.
In fact all the backs and covering backs got it, because the pack was pants.
I've little doubt Evans can provide the 3/4 cover Price is wanting and cover fb to allow Ratchford to cover any hb needs. He is better than 2016.

I didn't realise that Wires71 was that strapped for cash and in danger of going into Administration, then be relegated and end up having to post on a League1 forum?

Hughes got grief because he stunk the place out in 2017. It's not like he is fantastic now. He's OK as a defensive 2nd rower - that's it. He could still be easily improved on.

Rhys had not been good enough for a few seasons. In fact he wasn't first pick at Leigh and only got 12 starts.

The idea of a cover player is that they can slot into a side to replace an injured player without a noticeable deleterious effect on the potency of the side. (See Mitch Brown). Rhys would be a step back and I suspect the motivation is more from pity than RL recruitment strategy.

We have three centres and Currie can cover, so I'd expect some possible wing cover to be brought in at some stage. Rhys isn't what were looking for in that department, so it would be a no from me.

Not according to Price.
He wants a back, to replace Mitch Brown....Evans is of that level.
Can play centre, wing and fullback.

A lot of players few short of proven form and promise under the last half of TS reign....Evans is no different.