Castleford Tigers’ legal dispute against the Premiership side Sale and their former winger Denny Solomona could be settled out of court after a planned hearing set for the high court was adjourned on Thursday.
The Super League side are seeking damages against Solomona, Sale and Solomona’s agent, Andy Clarke, and were initially seeking a fee in the region of £500,000 for the Samoan, who joined Sale after failing to report for pre-season training with Castleford in November.
Castleford allege that he subsequently signed for Sale against their permission and they were set to begin legal proceedings at Leeds high court on Friday. That has now been adjourned, the Guardian has been told, with the two parties increasingly likely to discuss an out‑of‑court settlement.
Yet sources have told the Guardian that those discussions are by no means guaranteed to bring an amicable resolution to the matter. The dispute could return to the courts later in the year should talks fail, with a date in April on the cards should the parties fail to agree on a settlement for Solomona, who has excelled since switching codes to rugby union.
It is understood that Castleford’s legal team are keen to secure the best deal possible for both the Tigers and the reputation of rugby league following the acrimonious departure of a player whose standing as one of the best wingers in either code has soared in the past 12 months.
Super League’s record try-scorer in a single season with his 40 tries for Castleford in 2016, Solomona became the first player in Premiership history to score five tries in his first five games in the competition, leading some bookmakers to offer reduced odds on him playing for England – as well as the British & Irish Lions – this year. Solomona is eligible to apply to become an England qualified player from 9 March, three years since his debut in this country while playing for London Broncos against Warrington. Sources have told the Guardian it is the player’s decision whether he applies, with no decision yet made.
The Sharks had previously bid for Solomona – which was rejected by Castleford – before unveiling him as a Sale player in December after they alleged he had been fired by the Tigers for his failure to return to training. Speaking then, the Sale director of rugby, Steve Diamond, insisted his club had done nothing wrong. “Players have agents and they put the players up on the marketplace,” he said.
“Let’s get it straight; there were other clubs in for Denny and there were at least two rugby union clubs I know of that were in the market to sign him.
“I don’t think we’ve done anything wrong at all, to be honest. I think the situation has been blown out of proportion. It’s in the hands of the owners of the clubs, it’s nothing to do with me really.”
