Quartet to leave Wigan

Wigan have confirmed the exit of four players, including under contract hooker Mark Riddell.

Riddell, 29, confirmed in June that he will return to Australia for family reasons after the club agreed to release him from his contract, and following him out of the exit door are out of contract trio Iafeta Palea’aesina, Phil Bailey and Shaun Ainscough.

Winger Ainscough has already confirmed a move to Bradford, while Palea’aesina and Bailey are set to complete moves to Salford later this week.

Warriors head coach Michael Maguire said: “We are sorry to see the departure of these four players and thank them all for their service to Wigan.

“Feka has added many special moments to games for Wigan fans and his popularity, good humour and sheer effort for Wigan have been exceptional.

Regarding Ainscough, Maguire added: “It is never an easy decision to release players but under the constraints of the salary cap we will never be able to keep every young player who comes through our system and it is important to give them the chance to develop elsewhere.

“I wish them all well for the future and I know that all four players will want to end their time at Wigan with success as we now look forward towards the Play-Offs.”

The Warriors have also confirmed that they are in talks with several of their current squad over new contracts at the DW Stadium.