The 14 Halifax Panthers players free agents who could now re-sign with the club

Halifax Panthers will return to the field on Sunday with a new club formed following their liquidation last month.

Formal approval is set to be announced today, with plans in place in time for Fax to fulfil their Championship fixture against London Broncos at The Shay on Sunday afternoon.

They will be coached by Kyle Eastmond, with Love Rugby League revealing on Monday evening that he had agreed to coach the club moving forward after the club’s previous demise.

The focus now is on assembling a squad that can take to the field on Sunday, with many players contracted before liquidation moving on to pastures new in recent weeks. David Nofoaluma (York Knights), Tanguy Zenon (Huddersfield Giants), Charlie Graham (Hunslet), Jack Hansen (Rochdale Hornets), Tom Inman (Newcastle Thunder), Ronan Dixon (Batley Bulldogs), Bayley Liu (Hunslet) and Brad Day (Oldham), have all departed, while loan players Myles Lawford and Leon Cowen have returned to their parent clubs.

It leaves 14 players; Ben Tibbs, Alfie Johnson, Jesse Soric, Will Calcott, Adam O’Brien, Dan Okoro, Ben Crooks, Owen McCarron, Jacob Fairbank, Connor Davies, Zack McComb, Vila Halafihi, Ben Forster and Darius Carter, all still free agents. It does not necessarily mean that they will automatically sign for Fax though, as the club will now have to renegotiate new contracts before they can play for the club.

Even if they all do re-sign, that still does not mean they have a full squad for the weekend. However, there are a number of Super League clubs who have said they are willing to loan players to Fax in order to fulfil the fixture, and that process is now underway.

It appeared unlikely, but Fax have managed to get to the starting line in time to continue playing on this season, with further plans set to be laid out in the coming days and weeks.