FORMER York favourite Jamie Benn is the top name on Wasps coach Lee Crooks' wanted list.

Benn was one of the Wasps players who left earlier this season when the club went into a Company Voluntary Arrangement.

Since then he has been plying his trade in the amateur game with National Conference club Castleford Panthers.

Crooks confirmed he has recently spoken to the goal-kicking full-back and was planning further talks.

"I spoke to Jamie a week ago and he hinted he would come back once his commitments with Castleford Panthers are over," Crooks told the Evening Press.

"I'm talking to him again this week to see if he wants to come back."

The Panthers have just one game left in the NCL second division and with their safety still in the balance, Benn is unlikely to leave until the end of the season.

If he then decides to return to York it would solve one of Crooks' positional problems which he identified after yesterday's 60-10 home defeat by Workington. He is desperate for a quality full-back and stand-off after Matt Mulholland and Rob Roberts, who slotted into the unaccustomed half-back role, failed to provide the answers.

Crooks said: "No disrespect to Matt, he tried his best but I just don't think he has got the ability. Rob filled in for me at stand-off because we had no-one else. I thought we might have got away with it but I was proved wrong."

It was a mystifying performance from the Wasps who were still in contention after half an hour when they trailed 14-10. But three tries in the space of five minutes just before half-time put paid to any chance of victory.

"There were too many players trying to do their own thing and we got heavily punished," said a disappointed Crooks. "For 35 minutes we looked fairly comfortable but then it all went wrong.

"The game's all about controlling the football and tackling and we did neither. All credit to them they took advantage of our misdemeanours."

Roberts believes the Wasps' heavy defeats over the last few weeks may have taken their toll on the players' mental toughness.

He said: "With some of the lads still reeling from the Rochdale game and the games before, they were getting back into the same mould when we went behind. Their heads dropped and the body language was wrong.

"We've got to concentrate for the full 80 minutes. We switched off at times and forced the ball, and piggy-backed them down the field by giving penalties away."

The former Hull FC star confirmed he was with York until the end of season, during which time he was hoping to catch the eye of Super League clubs.

"I'm hoping to get match fit, play the last games out here then maybe go on loan to a Super League club with a view to getting a full-time contract next season," said the 22-year-old, who left Hunslet earlier this season after claiming he hadn't been paid money that was owed to him.

"I've been full-time since I was 16 and earning good money so it is a bit of a culture shock in the NFP. But when you're earning nothing, the bills still have to be paid and the money in the bank's going down so I need to get back into the game."

Updated: 09:50 Monday, April 23, 2001