WHAT rotten luck for Warrington Wolves players!

Winger Mark Forster, hoping for a new contract at Wilderspool in 2000, has become the second Wolves player to break an arm in international matches.

The 34-year-old flyer did the damage while starring for Ireland at the weekend in their 31-10 defeat of Scotland to lift the Triangular Tournament Trophy. Foz scored one of six Irish tries.

Wolves prop Mark Hilton broke his arm after only two minutes of action with England in France last month and centre Jon Roper needed an arthroscope operation on his knee after the same game.

Both Forster and Roper still have contract offers from the Wolves for Super League V but neither have been taken up so far.

Huddersfield and Sheffield Giants have been showing interest in centre Roper but have not yet improved a player-swap offer which Warrington rejected.

Wolves coach Darryl Van de Velde, fresh from a fortnight's holiday in the Algarve, has revealed he would like to have New Zealand Test star Nigel Vagana back at Wilderspool for the 2001 season.

Winger or centre Vagana, who finished as Super League's top try scorer with the Wolves in 1997, was in outstanding form for the Kiwis as they destroyed Great Britain and Ireland 26-4 in Auckland last Friday.

After the game the Kiwis' two-try hero revealed to journalists covering Britain's misfortunes down under that he would like to work with the Wolves again.

Van de Velde said: "I would love to have Nigel back tomorrow as he's a very good player.

"We had a massive salary the year he was with Warrington which had to be reduced and which is why he returned to Auckland.

"For the 2000 season our overseas quota is full but I would be interested in getting him back for the year after, by which time Toa Kohe-Love will be off the register."

Vagana's current contract with Auckland Warriors has 12 months to run.

Warrington's new loose forward recruit Tawera Nikau has withdrawn from skippering the Maoris against GB this weekend due to recovering from knee surgery. The ex-New Zealand Test ace is expected to captain the Maoris in the World Cup next year.

Mike Wainwright, the man Nikau has replaced at Wilderspool, has signed a two-year deal with Salford Reds.

The Wolves players are back in full squad training fand getting used to some new ideas.

They met new conditioner Tony O'Brien on their first day back which included fitness testing that involved measuring body fat, endurance on a rowing machine, sprinting and tackling.

The tests, carried out at Warrington Collegiate Institute by sports science lecturer Clive Harvey, will be repeated when the squad returns from warm weather training in Lanzarote. The Wolves will be flying out to the Canaries island in January.

Warrington Wolves have proudly announced this week that their 'early bird' season ticket offer has been a record hit.

During October the total revenue from season ticket sales for 2000 exceeded the total revenue for the whole of Super League IV.

The 'free shirt' offer on Brian Bevan adult season tickets and family tickets will remain in place until December 1. Fans are reminded that purchasing an adult ground season ticket before December 1 will still entitle them to a half-price shirt.

The 'early bird' offer has been so successful that the promotion has gone beyond all expectations, so much so that the club has placed an emergency order for shirts with new kit suppliers Halbro.

Warrington chiefs are pledging that, despite the two to three week delay, all those qualifying will receive their free shirt and shirts will be allocated in the order that season tickets were purchased.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.