It’s been the worst kept secret in rugby league – but Whitehaven have now confirmed that both Lachlan Walmsley and Louis Jouffret will be leaving next season.
Haven knew last week that the pair had accepted offers elsewhere and would not be returning, but felt it best to wait until the Championship programme had ended.
The Cumbrians lost narrowly at Halifax on Sunday to end their play-off progress, so the club has now confirmed that they are leaving.
Whitehaven have now issued a press release confirming the departures but not revealing where they are headed in 2022.
The release said: “The club appreciates that there has been lots of rumours recently regarding the destination of Lachlan and Louis, however as a club we will not comment on that any further.
“We believe that this kind of announcement is best left to the other club(s), and we would not wish to spoil what will be great press coverage for them.”
On their departures club director, Ashley Kilpatrick, said: ”Louis has been brilliant since we brought him over in the middle of the season. He added that extra spark that we needed at that time.
“Lachlan has been a revelation since we brought him over, both on and off the field, completely buying into the ethos of the club. We wish both the best of luck in their careers, and we will no doubt see them again down at the LEL Arena in the future.
“We did make Lachlan an offer to stay, a very good offer in fact, however clearly it wasn’t enough to keep him here. With Louis we have never had the chance to make him an offer as his agent informed us that he was returning to play in France next season.”
Walmsley, a 23-year-old Australian who is eligible to play for Scotland, played in 23 League and Cup games for Whitehaven, scoring 16 tries and kicking 75 goals.
On the offer made to try and keep Walmsley at the club, CEO Andrew Canavan said: ”The club has a responsibility to the shareholders and fans to ensure it remains a vibrant going concern.
“The offer made to Lachlan was an offer that was the very top end of what the club could afford. We are losing tens of thousands of pounds in central distribution next year and although we have exciting plans to increase revenues along with improving the matchday experience, we cannot risk gambling money we do not have and spending over and above based on the gates we have had this season.
“Matchday income is the highest income stream that the club has, and we know that we must improve crowd numbers if we are to stand a chance of continuing to challenge for the top end of the Championship.
“I am as disappointed as every other fan that we have not been able to keep Lachlan and Louis at the LEL Arena. However fans can rest assured that there is a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes to find suitable replacements.”
Meanwhile it has been confirmed that the club’s end of season awards night has been scheduled for October 15 in the JJ McKeown bar, tickets for which will be going on sale soon.
