Leigh Centurions release duo from contracts

Leigh Centurions have announced that forwards Paterika Vaivai and Larne Patrick have been released from their contracts with immediate effect.

Vaivai made his professional debut for the Newcastle Knights in 2014, and joined the Centurions from the Gold Coast Titans ahead of the 2018 Championship season.

His contract was set to run until November 2019, but the Leigh Sports Village side have announced that they have released the 26-year-old following a season-ending injury sustained on Easter Monday against London Broncos.

Leigh Centurions Owner Derek Beaumont told the club’s official website: “Patty [Vaivai] is a great lad with a personality as big as his frame. It is a real shame that just as he got going he suffered such a difficult injury, ruling him out for the whole season and preventing him from showing us all what he would have been bringing to us at this time of year.

“It’s a difficult place as a rugby player being side lined for the whole season and to live with that away from home across the other side of the world makes that more difficult. Patty was recently allowed to return home for a spell to try to help with this but in reality it has only demonstrated to him that it is home where he really needs to be.”

Former Huddersfield Giants and Castleford Tigers forward, Patrick has also been released by the club, who signed a two-year contract in October 2017.