Beaumont: Brierley not leaving Leigh

Leigh Centurions owner Derek Beaumont says star halfback Ryan Brierley won’t be leaving the club.

Reports have suggested that Brierley has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave Leigh if coach Paul Rowley left, which he did last week.

But Beaumont said the clause is not enforceable and that the playmaker does not want to leave the Centurions.

“It would never happen but, if Leeds came in tomorrow and said ‘here’s £100,000 for Ryan’, I’d say ‘no thanks’,” Beaumont told PA Sport.

“I had no knowledge of that clause but, having been made aware of it, I took legal advice and that was that, if it was a private agreement, it would not enforceable anyway because of the manner it was written.

“More importantly, any supplementary clause must come from the RFL clause bank.

“It isn’t a concern anyway because Ryan is not trying to enforce it. He’s not going anywhere.

Beaumont has also threatened legal action over the reporting on Brierley’s contract.

“I would say Ryan’s agent or any agent would need to express extreme caution in discussing his availability before the May deadline with any club because that clause in his contract will not protect them and they will, therefore, be subject to legal retribution by myself, and also RFL operational rules,” he said.

“And once we get to the deadline, my understanding is that Ryan will not be making any decisions about his future until he knows where Leigh Centurions are because, if he can achieve his goal with Leigh, then he’ll want to do that.

“It doesn’t pose a problem. What does pose me a problem, though, is how that information has got into the public domain because it is a confidential document.

“It’s important for me to know who, if it is anybody within my club, has put information like that out there and I’ve instructed a solicitor to get on with finding out how that occurred and, if necessary, get an injunction against the source because I feel strongly about that.”