Denny Solomona's Castleford contract dispute set for trial
Monday 8 May 2017 16:53, UK
Denny Solomona will travel to Argentina with England this summer with a court case hanging over him after an end-of-year trial date was set as Castleford Tigers sue the Auckland-born player for damages.
Solomona's former rugby league club are suing the 23-year-old after he walked out on them during the winter before signing a three-year deal with Sale Sharks, despite having two years remaining on his Castleford contract.
The New Zealand-born winger, who scored a Super League record 40 tries in 2016, is set to make his England debut after being named in Eddie Jones' touring squad to feature in a 31-man party that will be captained by Dylan Hartley.
Tigers are seeking £500,000 in damages against Solomona, as well as Sale and the player's agent Andy Clarke, after the parties failed to reach an out-of-court settlement which resulted in the matter reaching Leeds Mercantile Court.
A hearing on Monday was told a total of 10 witnesses are due to be called, as the case was listed for a seven-day trial in Leeds in the period between November 13 and January 12 with parties told to disclose documents and exchange witness statements by mid-July.
Castleford took legal advice after Solomona failed to report for pre-season training in November ahead of Sale subsequently announcing he had retired from rugby league, before going on to sign him in December. Castleford had previously turned down an approach for Solomona from Warrington in August.
In papers lodged at the High Court, the Tigers claimed Sale and Clarke had entered into a "cynical calculation" which meant they would be financially better off if the player breached his contract instead of negotiating a transfer fee and, therefore, were due exemplary damages in addition to £500,000.
The document, brought by leading QC Nick Randall, revealed that on September 8 - a month before the end of the Super League season - Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond offered to pay Castleford £50,000 in compensation "for a quick and quiet deal" after withdrawing an earlier offer of £150,000 which had been rejected.
The Super League club argued Solomona's subsequent non-attendance at training, allied with a social media image of him playing table-tennis with Sale players the following day and a picture of a Sharks removal van outside his home, proved a breach of contract.
Castleford consequently terminated his contract on November 11 and began their lawsuit, claiming a genuine transfer value for the player would have been £500,000.
