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The 'Wright' stuff

24/ 7/2008

SWINTON Lions coach Paul Kidd insists that the class and experience of new loan signing Mike Wainwright can steer the club out of the doldrums.

The Lions have slipped down to ninth spot in the National League Two table after losing six games on the spin. And they have six players ruled out for the rest of the season through injury in Phil Wood, Rick Jones, Rob Ball, Adam Bibey, Chris Tyrer and Chris Morley.

But Kidd believes that the loan signing of 33-year-old Wainwright could spark a turnaround in fortunes.

The former Super League star with Warrington and Salford has signed a month-long deal with the Lions.

But with Wainwright’s parent club Leigh making it clear that he has no future at Hilton Park he could end up staying at Swinton until at least the end of the season.

Kidd said: "Mike is a class act and his signing has given us a big lift at Swinton. He was playing in Super League this time last year.

"We have a lot of young lads here and they could ask for no better player to learn from than Mike. He is so thorough and professional in everything that he does and his experience and quality out on the field should be a big factor for us as we look to battle our way out of our recent slump."

Wainwright is the only loan player on Swinton’s books with Dayne Donoghue and Adam Bowman having returned to Widnes.

And the Lions will have to make do without prop Dave York for their trip to fifth-placed York on Sunday, July 27, kick-off 3pm, after he was handed a three-game ban for an illegal use of the forearm offence in the recent defeat at London Skolars.

But Kidd says that there is a 50/50 chance of Darren Gibson returning from injury on Sunday while Barry Hamilton is back in training having recovered from a knee problem.

Kidd, who is still hopeful of signing the mystery League Two back that he has been chasing for the last few weeks, said: "York are on a good run of form and there is no doubt that Sunday’s game is going to be a tough one for us."