Leigh and Millward still have SL hopes

Leigh will aim to win the Northern Rail Cup and earn promotion to keep their Super League dream alive.

Their relegation to Championship 1 makes their task of satisfying the criteria for a 2012 licence even tougher, but the club are hopeful that Ian Millward and signings such as Robbie Paul will still move to Leigh Sports Village.

Centurions chief executive Allan Rowley said: “I have spoken to Ian Millward on a number of occasions since his appointment and he knows the script. He knows what the score is.

“Tomorrow we will sit down and take stock of the situation.

“We will start building for next year and our goal will be to win the Northern Rail Cup and to get promoted.”

The Centurions gave themselves a chance to beat the drop by running in eight tries, two of them from hooker Dave McConnell.

It was a sorry end to the club’s first season at their new stadium after leaving Hilton Park.

Rowley added: “We’ve been relegated in a false position. To finish joint seventh and still be relegated is a bit sickening.

“I’ve been trying to analyse the season and it’s only in the back half of the year that this place has felt like home.

“It’s not been home for the players or the spectators. It was a big move for us.

“But we are a big club, we always will be, and I feel we will have the personnel on board next season to get us back where we belong.”

Leigh were relegated despite a 47-14 win over Whitehaven, as Batley came from 14-0 down to win 30-26 at Featherstone.

Coach Paul Rowley, who will work as assistant to Millward next season, also tried to look forward positively.

He said: “It’s happened but as long as we learn from it we’ll take a lot from this season. We’ll go down and be strong.

“The Northern Rail Cup has now just become altogether more significant. The first goal of ours will be to win that.”