YORK City Knights are eyeing a sensational move to bring rugby league legend Stanley Gene to Huntington Stadium for the rest of the season.

The Press understands the Papua New Guinea and Super League veteran has verbally agreed terms with the Championship One outfit but must first overcome a contractual dispute with current club Halifax, whom he is reportedly taking to a Rugby Football League tribunal after being dismissed.

The news comes after the Knights advanced to third place in the table thanks to Blackpool Panthers being docked ten points following breaches of registration and salary cap rules. The transfer deadline for this season is 5pm tomorrow and Knights boss Dave Woods hoped a move for Gene could be agreed in time.

“He’s Stanley Gene,” Woods simply said when asked if he could do the business for York.

“He’s played Test matches against Australia. He started as a half-back, he’s played front-row, back-row, loose-forward – he can play anywhere.

“He would give us a big presence.”

The Press understands Gene had a clause in his contract that guaranteed him a new deal at The Shay for 2011 if he played 20 games this year. He has played ten times but not since the beginning of June after knee trouble and then a fall-out with the club.

Gene was initially suspended without pay for several weeks and subsequently sacked, with an appeal being rejected.

Halifax chairman Michael Steele refused to discuss the background to Gene’s axing, although it is thought Fax’s case was based on more than one specific incident. Privately, Gene’s camp insist Fax were intent on ridding themselves of one of their top earners.

Gene then spoke with Knights player/assistant-coach Chris Thorman about the possibility of coming to York.

Woods added: “He wants to come and hopefully will do as long as we can get everything sorted with Halifax and the Rugby Football League before the weekend.”

Gene, whose age has long been a subject of contention, first played in English rugby league for Hull KR in the old Second Division, after shining for Papua New Guinea in the 1995 World Cup. He spent four years at Craven Park, scoring 94 tries in 111 games.

He moved to cross-city rivals Hull, and to Super League, in 2000, scoring six tries in 28 games, before switching to Huddersfield, where he was a team-mate of Thorman. He scored 27 tries in 76 outings for the Giants before signing for Bradford, for whom he played 22 times.

He returned to Hull KR, scoring ten times in 55 games before switching to Halifax last autumn.

He played 26 times for Papua New Guinea between 1995 and 2008. In his final game he was tearfully carried off by his team-mates to a standing ovation.