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Wakefield know the extent of the damage done to their season by going into administration last week – and they will be relieved that it is not worse.

The Rugby League ruled yesterday that Trinity should be docked four points for breaking the body's rules on insolvency.

The punishment is the same as that handed out to Crusaders for the same infraction this winter, although the League has the power to deduct a maximum of six points.

The Wildcats, now under the new ownership of local businessman Andrew Glover, begin the task of getting their points tally into the black at the Catalan Dragons tonight.

They must do so with a depleted side, having lost three players to rival Super League clubs this week. Their coach, John Kear, has promised new recruits to fill the gaps and that process has already begun.

None of Wakefield's new signings so far – Craig Harvey from Warrington and Kyle Amor from Leeds on loan, plus two permanent signings from Huddersfield, Josh Griffin and Greg Johnson – will be involved in Perpignan, however, but Kevin Penny is in line to make his debut. Setaimata Sa is in the Catalans' squad, despite being carried off at the Millennium Stadium, but Clint Greenshields is out.

In today's other Super League match, Martin Aspinwall could make his Castleford debut against Huddersfield, the club he left this winter. The 17-year-old hooker, Daryl Clark, is also in the squad for a possible first senior game, taking the place of Nick Fozzard.

The Giants' squad is unchanged from the one which beat Warrington at Cardiff. Both sides had impressive victories there last weekend and a second win in a row would give either of them a morale boosting start to the season.

Jordan Tansey, the utility back sacked by Hull last week after a series of disciplinary breaches, has joined the Championship club, Dewsbury. He could make his debut in the Northern Rail Cup match against Doncaster tomorrow.

St George-Illawarra warmed up for next Sunday's World Club Challenge at Wigan by beating the Canterbury Bulldogs 28-14 in Woolongong. They could have lost the utility player, Nick Emmett, from their squad to travel to England after he went off with an arm injury.

Labels: against, begin, Dragons, Independent, process, rebuilding, Wakefield

It is the same penalty Crusaders were given after they entered administration late last year.

But new owner Andrew Glover says he will do everything possible to ensure the club gains a new Super League licence after completing his takeover.

He told BBC Radio Leeds: "We are going to make sure everything that needs to be done to get it is done."

He added: "We are going to try our hardest to get it."

The governing body has already stated that one current Super League club will not get a new licence from next season.

And Glover, whose takeover was rubber-stamped on Thursday, has a fight on his hands to convince the RFL that the side deserve a new three-year licence.

Wildcats have suffered this season following their administration and additional problems around their attempts to get their new stadium built at Newmarket.

Glover admitted he has contemplated dropping down a division, adding: "We have to bare with the reality that we might not get a licence, but that doesn't mean we are just going to sit back and expect not to get it.

"We go all guns blazing now into not just trying to get the licence but also pushing on with the stadium.

"We have our work cut out here but we feel we have all the right people in the right places to make it all work."

Glover also insists the Wildcats will be his main priority as he takes a backseat from his other company, West Yorkshire Windows.

"This will be my daily job, I imagine I'll be here everyday for the next few years. My team at the window company know what they are doing, so they'll be fine looking after that.

"I'll be here daily for the foreseeable future as we look to keep Wakefield on the right track."

Labels: docks, points, Sport, Trinity, Wakefield, Wildcats

Wakefield Trinity have finally emerged from administration under new ownership and rejecting suggestions that they will be cannon fodder both in the Super League this season and in the battle for a licence from 2012. Trinity have lost three senior players from what was already the thinnest squad in the competition because of delays in the negotiations between the administrators and Andrew Glover, who completed his takeover on Thursday afternoon.

They are likely to be deducted at least four points after a Rugby Football League board meeting on Friday, and the uncertainty over their plans to develop a new stadium, which have been called in for a public inquiry, has also left them as the most obviously vulnerable of the 14 Super League clubs, at least one of whom will be demoted when a new batch of three-year licences are awarded in July.

But Glover and John Kear, who will be staying on as coach contrary to suggestions that he had been made redundant, have come out fighting. "Wakefield needs a Super League club, and we will definitely be bidding for a licence," Glover said. "There's three of us in this fight – us, Castleford and Salford – and we have stable finances, which is a big plus."

Kear has already completed deals for four new players, all of them from the fringe of other Super League squads – Josh Griffin and Greg Johnson on permanent transfers from Huddersfield, and loan deals for Kyle Amor from Leeds, and Craig Harvey from Warrington. Glover confirmed that funds will be made available for further signings, almost certainly including Jordan Tansey, the full-back who was recently sacked by Hull for disciplinary reasons.

None of the new players will be available for Saturday's game against the Catalans Dragons, and Kear had only 18 available to fly to Perpignan on Friday morning after the loss of Sam Obst to Hull, Dale Ferguson to Huddersfield, Daryl Millard to the Catalans, and Matt Blaymire for at least eight weeks with a broken hand.

But the four new signings will all be in contention for Wakefield's first home game of the season against Salford on Sunday week, when Kear also hopes that the Maori half-back Jeremy Smith will have received a visa to face his former club, and the young prop Ben Gledhill should also be fit.

Salford's coach Shaun McRae has enough problems of his own ahead of Friday night's home game against St Helens after a 42-12 thrashing by the Crusaders in Cardiff last weekend. Wayne Godwin has achieved the unusual distinction of being suspended twice already this season – once for a spear tackle in a trial match against Wigan, and now for two matches after being dismissed for punching at the Millennium Stadium – forcing McRae to switch the former Saints scrum-half Matty Smith to hooker.

Saints also have injury problems, with Leon Pryce, Gary Wheeler and James Graham definitely out, and Paul Wellens doubtful, but the Australian forward Chris Flannery will make his first appearance of the season after missing their draw against Wigan in Cardiff with a knee injury. Hull remain hopeful that Obst will be cleared to make his debut in their televised home game against Leeds.

Labels: Guardian, insist, league, Super, Trinity, Wakefield, whipping