LEIGH Centurions have been forced to scrap their Senior Academy team this season.

The squad - last season's Under 19s - went through the entire campaign undefeated, beat Dewsbury in the Grand Final and had expected to be promoted to the Super League Under 21s Senior Academy where they would have rubbed shoulders with the Wigans, St Helens and Bradfords.

But the Senior Academy has kicked off without Leigh and forced the Centurions into withdrawing the team from competition for this season.

A disappointed head coach Paul Terzis told the players affected at training last night (Wednesday) but has assured Leigh fans that the Under 21s will be back next season while the Under 18s and scholarship scheme will remain in place at Hilton Park.

Tough decision

"We thought about the situation long and hard and it was a tough decision to make," Terzis admits. "Last season they were far too good for the competition they were in and it would have been pointless in going through the same again this year. They wouldn't have developed as players without having new challenges put in front of them.

"What should have happened is that they should have been allowed into the Super League competition. Their performances over the last two years have demanded that. But that decision was out of our hands.

"There was a financial implication in our thinking, but that was only a very small issue. The main thing is that the squad would not have got any benefit from playing at a lower level again."

Leigh are not expecting to lose many of their players with most already included in the first grade squad with the others still eligible to play at U18s level.

Coaching assistant John Pendlebury will now take a more hands-on role with Terzis and the first team while assisting Lloyd Pugsley with the U18s.

Meanwhile, Terzis must wait for medical checks on several players before being able to name his squad for Sunday's key Arriva Trains National Cup qualifier against Swinton at Hilton Park, kick off 3pm.

Front rowers Dave Bradbury and Sonny Nickle are again in extreme doubt while winger Alan Hadcroft looks likely to miss a second successive game.

Bradbury was a late withdrawal from the team that beat Oldham last weekend after he damaged a heel when falling from a ladder at work. Nickle, another absentee at Oldham, is still troubled by an inflamed elbow while Hadcroft's bruised ribs are still not 100 per cent.

However, winger Leroy Rivett is expected to recover from a quadracep strain and Lee Sanderson from a hand injury to strengthen Leigh's selection options.

But hooker John Hamilton faces several weeks on the sidelines after a bone scan revealed a hairline fracture of his wrist. Hamilton has been troubled by the injury for a couple of weeks but it took a bone scan to discover the full extent after an x-ray failed to shown any fracture.

A Leigh victory over the Lions will almost certainly guarantee the Centurions a place in the quarter-finals. Games in the last eight will be decided by an open draw once all the group games are completed.