Off the Record: Rugby League Rumours and Gossip #209

The 209th rumour and gossip column is out.

Lam future

Wigan coach Adrian Lam is close to agreeing a new deal with the Warriors for next season.

The Papua New Guinean is off-contract with the club at the end of the current campaign – but talks have been positive over extending his stay at the DW Stadium. Wigan announced that superstar full-back Bevan French committed his future to the club just a couple of days ago.

Bids for Super League

There are a number of Championship and League 1 clubs who want to the vacant 12th spot in Super League from 2021.

Toulouse and York have already launched their bids to enter the top flight for next season, while fellow Championship clubs Leigh, Featherstone, Bradford and London Broncos are also believed to be keen on taking a place in Super League next season.

Sonny Bill Williams future

There is plenty of talk over the future of dual-code legend Sonny Bill Williams.

Reports from Down Under suggest the New Zealander is set to retire from all codes of rugby after Toronto Wolfpack failed in their bid to be re-admitted into Super League next season. Williams was contracted to the Canadian club for 2021 but there is speculation that he will go back into boxing.

Player movement

Championship and League 1 clubs have been busy over the last couple of weeks in terms of player recruitment – and there is still plenty more to be done over the next month or two.

There are quite a lot of players who are off-contract in Super League, too, so there will be a lot more player movement as we enter the back end of the calendar year.

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