Whitehaven RLFC have confirmed that Super League target Lachlan Walmsley – alongside former Featherstone and Batley halfback Louis Jouffret – will leave the club.
Winger Walmsley – famous for his flying finishes for the Cumbrian side – has been linked with a move to Wigan Warriors, with Haven now releasing a statement announcing their departures:
“In addition to the club’s last press release on what our squad will look like in 2022, the club can today announce that we have been informed that both Louis Jouffret and Lachlan Walmsley will not be with us next year. We were informed of this decision last week but felt it was best to wait until our season had ended before making an official comment. The club appreciates that there has been lots of rumours recently regarding the destination of Lachlan and Louis however as a club we will not comment on that any further, we believe that this kind of announcement is best left to the other club(s), and we would not wish to spoil what will be great press coverage for them.”
On these departures club director, Ashey Kilpatrick, stated “Louis has been brilliant since we brought him over in the middle of the season. He added that extra spark that we needed at that time. Lachlan has been a revelation since we brought him over, both on and off the field, completely buying into the ethos of the club. We wish both the best of luck in their careers, and we will no doubt see them again down at the LEL Arena in the future. We did make Lachlan an offer to stay, a very good offer in fact, however clearly it wasn’t enough to keep him here. With Louis we have never had the chance to make him an offer as his agent informed us that he was returning to play in France next season.”
On the offer made to try and keep Lachlan at the club, CEO Andrew Canavan made the following statement: “The club has a responsibility to the shareholders and fans to ensure it remains a vibrant going concern. The offer made to Lachlan was an offer that was the very top end of what the club could afford.
“We are losing tens of thousands of pounds in central distribution next year and although we have exciting plans to increase revenues along with improving the matchday experience, we cannot risk gambling money we do not have and spending over and above based on the gates we have got this season.
“Matchday income is the highest income stream that the club has, and we know that we must improve crowd numbers if we are to stand a chance of continuing to challenge for the top end of the Championship.
“I am as disappointed as every other fan that we have not been able to keep Lachlan and Louis at the LEL Arena however fans can rest assured that there is a lot of hard work is going on behind the scenes to find suitable replacements.”
