Barking's James Ngan is staying with the club

Director of Rugby Neil Kersey disappointed after player signings leaked on an internet forum.

Director of Rugby Neil Kersey is bitterly disappointed after information on player signings were leaked on an internet forum.

Players leaving and joining the Gale Street outfit had been listed on the Rolling Maul forum.

Despite deals largely being in place for those on the list, Kersey was waiting until all the paperwork had been completed before announcing their signings.

“It is very disappointing that someone has felt the need to release the information, acting like they are in the know,” he said.

“All these deals are not 100 per cent done yet, we wanted to be sure before announcing them, and we wouldn’t have done that until they had physically handed us the contracts.”

A deal for Frankie Neale had already been concluded and one for former Ealing Trailfinder centre Marcus Burcham, but both Kersey and head coach Martin Jones remain tight lipped on their other targets, however the Director of Rugby did confirm that signings in the days to come would be the biggest in their history.

“We are looking to announce some in the latter part of this week, and if we can pull some of the signings off it is fair to say they would be the most significant the club have ever made,” added Kersey.

Players who have committed themselves to the Goresbrook outfit for another season include James Ngan, who had interest from other clubs, along with the likes of Edward Ambrose, Marcus Bloomberg and Nathan Barnham.

Meanwhile, the deadline for changes to the provisional fixtures set out by the National Clubs Association (NCA) was extended to yesterday (Tuesday), with only one fixture up in the air at the time of going to press.

Opening day opposition at Gale Street, Blaydon are unhappy at having to travel on a Bank Holiday weekend, but Jones and Kersey were keen for the game to go ahead, especially with tough fixtures against Rosslyn Park and Cambridge to follow.

“The only issue regarding our fixtures is day one, but we ourselves are happy with the remaining fixtures,” said Jones.

“Blaydon have an issue of travelling round London with Bank Holiday traffic, but now we just have to wait and see what the RFU decide.”

Whilst Kersey added: “We wouldn’t want to be going into a game against Rosslyn Park without any minutes under our belt.”