Rugby League 2016 - Championship: Yorkshire quartet ready to pounce on sudden vulnerability at Centurions

Not just because of the signing of Richie Mathers, the announcement of which was yet another reminder of how the Kingstone Press Championship really now is an environment brimming with class acts.

No, it was the news that Leigh Centurions head coach Paul Rowley, the driving force behind their biggest rivals for promotion back into Super League, had sensationally quit with barely a week to go before the new season’s kick-off, that will have really invigorated all down at Odsal.

Rowley’s departure – the reasons remain opaque and are publicly referred to only as “personal” – apparently stunned the club and must also have left his expensively-acquired squad similarly dumbfounded, too.

The former Halifax hooker had, of course, led them to top spot in each of the last two 
seasons as Leigh proved 
themselves as the stand-out team in the second-tier even if they 
did act as huge disappointment 
in last term’s inaugural Qualifiers.

The Centurions, who had promised so much and proved almost unbeatable in the previous 24 months, failed spectacularly when it came to those Middle Eights losing six of their seven games, finishing bottom and failing to defeat any of their four Super League opponents to see their dream of promotion ruthlessly dashed.

Nevertheless, it had, it seemed, not deterred Rowley and the club’s lavish and outspoken owner Derek Beaumont.

Having already spent a fortune bringing in the likes of former England star Gareth Hock, Warrington’s veteran hooker Mickey Higham and the iconic Kiwi prop Fuifui Moimoi to tackle the best Workington and Hunslet had to offer in 2015, Beaumont somehow managed to finance even more big-name signings under the salary cap restrictions in readiness for 2016.

None more so than Rangi Chase, the former Castleford and England stand-off who won Super League’s Man of Steel as recently as 2011, who arrived from Salford Red Devils with Harrison Hansen, the ex-Wigan second-row who also captains Samoa.

Also joining them from Super League Salford was Corey Paterson, the Australian second-row formerly of Hull KR, a one-time Australia forward Reni Maitua and, let’s not forget, ex-Queensland State of Origin centre Willie Tonga, who played a dozen Tests for the Kangaroos but gave up life in the south of France with 
Catalans Dragons for Championship football in this town near Wigan.

What must all these high-calibre names be thinking now that Rowley has gone?

Bradford will be doing some thinking of their own, all this confusion and disarray at their rivals presumably making them think their path back to the promised land might now look a little smoother.

It is hard to imagine it won’t level the playing field a little but the Bulls, too, must accept they have plenty of work to complete themselves if they are going to prosper in the months ahead.

Granted, they reached the maiden Million Pound Game last September for that dramatic shoot-out with Wakefield Trinity Wildcats for a Super League place in 2016 but, for all they came close in that game, there had been plenty of cracks papered over along the way.

Jimmy Lowes’ side must be more consistent this time around and not so heavily reliant on Lee Gaskell, their dynamic stand-off and the reigning Championship Player of the Year.

Signings like Mathers and, from Hull KR, England Knights centre Kris Welham, shows their intent and in Adam O’Brien, Danny Addy and Tom Olbison they have some classy Academy products now forming the backbone of their side.

Who else, though, will have realistic eyes on becoming the first Championship side to earn elevation to the top-flight since the new format was introduced?

Sheffield Eagles are serious about improving their whole operation, as illustrated by the fact their squad moved to a full-time operation in December and the ongoing work to bring a new stadium to the city.

Mark Aston remains one of the canniest coaches in the division and it will be intriguing to see how far he can raise his squad’s performances now he has the extra hours to work with them he has been craving.

Former Hull FC and Castleford prop Scott Wheeldon plus Elliot Minchella, from Leeds Rhinos, should augment them yet, bizarrely, they have lost some of their best players who were unable, or unwilling, to switch to full-time status.

Regardless, Sheffield will be seeking top-four again this term and anything less will be a letdown.

Richard Marshall won the competition’s Coach of the Year award in 2015 after guiding unfancied West Yorkshire club Halifax to fourth in the league and, subsequently, some really impressive displays against Super League opponents in the Qualifiers.

However, they did so at Featherstone Rovers’ expense who are sure to respond under Jon Sharp’s command.

In fairness, maybe all four of these sides from the Broad Acres will reach the lucrative Qualifiers and crisis-torn Leigh Centurions will slip out of the equation altogether?

Now, that would be a story.