Saturday's two Cardiff tries took Ferguson to 12 in 40 Wakefield starts

Crisis club Wakefield Trinity Wildcats forward Dale Ferguson has made a sudden departure to neighbours Huddersfield.

Just three days after scoring two tries in what proved his final game, Ferguson moves on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

He is the second key Wakefield player to leave in 24 hours, their delayed takeover having also seen them lose half-back Sam Obst to Hull on Monday.

But the club's administrators are now confident that Wakefield's takeover will be completed by Tuesday.

"We would like to conclude the sale as quickly as possible," said Simon Weir, spokesman for O'Hara and Company, the administrators in charge of the club.

"In the meantime, if an offer comes in for a player, it is difficult for the administrators to say no. Our duty is to the creditors."

It is thought that Huddersfield also made a bid to sign Wakefield's promising centre Aaron Murphy.

The Wildcats, who officially went into administration on Friday, thought they had gained new owners when agreement was reached for the club's purchase by local businessman Andrew Glover, acting on behalf of Spirit of 1873.

But talks to complete the deal have yet to be completed and O'Hara and Company are within their rights to sell assets in order to pay the creditors.

If an offer comes in for a player, it is difficult for the administrators to say no. Our duty is to the creditors Simon Weir, spokesman for O'Hara and Company

Within two hours of news of Ferguson's move breaking, Wakefield issued a statement from Spirit of 1873 Ltd distancing themselves from the administrators' decision to sell the player.

"The company wants all our loyal fans to understand that this transaction has taken place before we have been able to sign off on our ownership of the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats and that the company is not a party to Dale's sale.

"Work on the legal agreements around our purchase is still ongoing and the final written approval for Andrew Glover under the Rugby Football League's "fit and proper person test" is currently awaited."

Already with a weakened squad, and expected to suffer the league's statutory six-point penalty for any club going into administration, the loss of first Obst and now Ferguson too are hammer blows for coach John Kear.

Both started in Saturday's season opener against local rivals Castleford at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Ferguson scoring two of the Wildcats' four tries.

Kear already has Murphy up before the RFL's disciplinary committee on Tuesday night on a Grade C 'dangerous throw' offence.

The Wakefield coach now has to dig deep into his already stretched squad to assemble a team to fly out to Perpignan later this week for Saturday's Super League game against Catalan Dragons.

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