MICK HIGGINS this week stood resolute and defiant.

The man who has sweat blood for his beloved Leigh looked back on a season of disaster and debacle, frustration seeping from every agonised pore.

"I want success for this club and for this town," he said. "But it's a long, hard and painful road back."

Back in March the Leigh rugby boss had been buoyant in anticipation of a successful first season of summer sport at Hilton Park.

Last season's winning run, including solid performances against Hull KR and Bradford, augured well for a bright campaign. But 10 wins for a miserable seventh spot in dismal Division Two has underlined enormous problems at a club battling for pride, prizes - and its very existence.

"The position is just not acceptable," said a disappointed Higgins. "The players we have are better than the performances we have seen. And that is what makes it all so frustrating.

"But we are determined to go forward, a conviction underlined when we hired Eric Hughes, one of the best coaches in the business."

Behind the scenes Leigh have struggled. And, in response to a Journal reader's letter, Mick Higgins was happy to answer questions and criticisms.

"We are still in administration," he said. "There was a claim from a previous owner which resulted in the club having to obtain expensive legal advice, taking 12/14 weeks. That cost us a lot of money. But the judgement rightly came down in our favour.

"A board will be formed as soon as we are out of administration. And we will want the calibre of people with a major input into the day-to-day running of the club.

"The Sports Ground Initiative grant has not been lost. Because of the administration problems we were facing, I have been in touch with the authorities and we were granted a six-month extension until the end of the year.

"There has been talk of a club official acting as a player's agent. As far as the club is concerned, a foreign player with no agent has basically put his trust in someone with whom he is comfortable. There can't be anything wrong in that."

Higgins added that should Journal reader W Scott contact him, he would be happy to "show him the books" and answer any other questions.

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