LEIGH will not bankrupt themselves in a bold bid to escape Division Two.

In a Fan Forum chairman Mick Higgins insisted there was no intention of trying to buy success and risk putting the club back in the red.

"We will not be spending money we haven't got or have no hope of generating," he said.

"Trying to buy success does not succeed in the long term. This club has tried it in the past and twice been brought to its knees.

"We want success on the field just as much as you.

"But for a club of our standing we must rely on our youth policy and grow at a controlled pace.

"There is absolutely no doubt players in our game are taking too much money out of the sport. They deserve to be well paid for putting their bodies on the line week after week, but I feel it's come to a stage where greed is a big motivator.

"I'm not happy about the level of money we pay our players here at Leigh. They deserve more - but we pay what we can afford."

Coach Keith Latham was delighted by the reception from fans at the meeting at Hilton Park. "They are genuine Rugby League people who care passionately about their club.

"I can understand their impatience at wanting to see play of a higher level. I, and the players, want the same thing. But we have to earn that right. Simply throwing money at it won't guarantee success.

"It is frustrating at times to have so little to spend on team strengthening. But that's the way it is and we'll just have to get on with it."

"But I will say that these people (the board) are the best and most honest group of people I've ever dealt with. If I'd any doubts at all I wouldn't have taken the job in the first place."

Latham hit back at critics who felt Leigh was just a feeder club.

"That accusation hurts me deeply," he said. "We fight tooth and nail to sign every good kid from this area; sometimes we manage it, sometimes we just can't compete with the likes of Wigan or St Helens.

"But we're not in the business of grooming players for other clubs.

"I want to keep every kid we've signed - and I know the board feel the same way. We're not investing in them just to cash in at a later date."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.