York Wasps have admitted they are prepared to sacrifice the squad which took them to the brink of the Northern Ford Premiership play-offs for the sake of financial security.

But coach Dean Robinson believes they are making a big mistake and could be losing up to £40,000 in fees for their best young players.

The board of directors this week offered the same contracts to every player at the club, which for many means a big reduction in last season's wages.

Robinson expects the majority to reject the terms, and with only three players - Mark Cain, Darren Callaghan and Steve Hill - contracted for next season, he faces a race against time to assemble a squad in time for the Boxing Day kick-off.

He also claims the board's decision will prove costly. Under the Bosman ruling, players under the age of 24 become free agents if they are not offered the same or better terms. York's sought after trio of Jamie Benn, Mick Hagan and Andy Preston have all been offered reduced contracts which means the Wasps will not receive a penny in compensation if they go elsewhere.

Robinson believes that had the board taken his advice, they could have received £20,000 for Benn, £10,000 for Preston and £8,000 for Hagan, who is now in talks with Dewsbury.

He said: "The board have made a decision contrary to my advice and unfortunately I can see that certainly Jamie Benn will now be a hot property in the market because as I understand it he has been given his free agency status by the board."

Chief executive Ann Garvey said they had no option but to cut players' wages because of the reduction in News Corporation money from £325,000 to £150,000.

She explained: "We have put a proposition to the players that they are not too pleased about. It's a vast reduction in the wages and I can understand that.

"We don't want to be the board that splits this wonderful team up but we've finally decided this year that we are not going to think of what we might get in, we've got to spend money we know we have got.

"We want to be able to pay wages we can afford. If that means splitting the team up then that's the way it's got to be. It's very sad, nobody's more sad than me, but to keep rugby league alive we've got to keep within our means.

"I can understand what the lads are saying, that they were on very good wages last season, but they were overpaid. We expected a big sponsor to come in and it didn't come in. That meant directors had to pay wages and we don't want that to happen again."

Garvey said they would be prepared to renegotiate if a big sponsor came forward, and were already in talks with one potential sponsor.

For Robinson the board's decision is a big blow as he had been hoping to begin pre-season training this week. That date has now been put back until October 19 although he accepts they may still not be up and running by that point.

He said: "I'm very disappointed in the fact that it appears we won't be able to keep the side together. There's been a great deal of hard work gone into making York a force in rugby league again over the last three seasons and I believe we could have gone on to go one better and prove ourselves to be a great side and headed into an application for Super League.

"However the facts are the board have set a wage bill that will not unfortunately sign the majority of the current side.

"We are a victim of our own success. Players are wanted elsewhere and have been made offers from other clubs. All clubs in the Northern Ford Premiership have a reduction of News Corporations funds but the problems at York which are well documented in relation to off-field revenue has meant that the wage bill has been set low compared to other clubs.

"The only hope is that the board at the 11th hour manage to generate off-field revenue in the form of sponsorship otherwise it will be a sad day for the club."

The first player to go could be Lea Tichener who Garvey believes is set to join Doncaster. She said: "All I can do is wish him the best of luck. He has been a very loyal servant and I will be sad to see him go."

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