YORK Wasps RL Club's vice-chairman Russell Greenfield has blasted the French-based agent who has so far failed to bring in the top name players he promised.

The Huntington Stadium club built a number of links over the Channel during the close-season and, through an agent, had lined up a number of highly-regarded professional players.

Greenfield said this agent - who he declined to name - had assured the Wasps that several senior French-based players would be signed up before the start of the season. He also said this agent had been contracted by the club to snap up such players.

"We were promised by a French-based agent that up to ten top players, some of them internationals, would be joining us, and we were told there was no need to sign our own players because of that," Greenfield told the Evening Press.

"He let us down, full stop."

Aussie full-back Ben Sorbello moved to York from France but only after his former club, Avignon, went bust. Other players - such as Chris St Clair, Michael Cousseau and Josh Hussay - were named as potential newcomers but none has yet arrived.

Furthermore, the broken promises meant the Wasps were scrambling before the start of the season in December to strengthen their squad.

"We'd been promised them since August and we were relying on this agent to get the players for us," said Greenfield.

"We were even reassured a week before the season started that they would be coming.

"We had a contract with him to do it and he did not fulfil his contract. We believed he would carry his contract through."

As reported in the Evening Press some weeks ago, the Wasps were told there was a chance French-based players could be signing once their current clubs were knocked out of the Challenge Cup - St Gaudens, Villeneuve and Union Treiziste Catalane will all be involved in Sunday's fourth round. But in the interim they were forced to alter their sights.

Greenfield said the possibility of a French invasion to York still existed but added: "It could still happen but we don't know. We're in the dark at present."

Updated: 12:13 Thursday, February 07, 2002