Dean Robinson has failed in his bid to bring Hull Sharks utility player Brad Hepi to Huntington Stadium.

The York Wasps coach had been in long-running talks to get Hepi on a match-by-match basis or a short term contract but the New Zealander has opted to sign for York's Premiership rivals Rochdale Hornets.

It was a disappointing end to the negotiations for Robinson who had been confident of securing Hepi's services after he was released from his Hull contract last week.

He said: "I was aware of his availability but financially I believe money can be better spent elsewhere although he is a quality player.

"With our off-field revenue as it is it would have been foolish to put all our resources into signing one player."

It is understood Rochdale offered Hepi a lucrative contract which was out of reach of several other Premiership clubs, including Bramley and Barrow.

The 31-year-old Hepi, who has also played for Workington and Carlisle, had been playing rugby union with London Scottish until late last year.

The search for players is still continuing for Robinson who is desperate to bolster his injury-hit squad.

"I am in dialogue or monitoring nine players at the moment and I will decide both on football and financial reasons who I shall make an approach to," revealed Robinson, who wants to bring five or six new faces to the club, finances permitting.

It is understood two of those players are amateur internationals from the Humberside area, two are currently playing rugby union in Yorkshire, three are attached to Super League clubs and two are in the Northern Ford Premiership.

Robinson was expecting to make progress on some of his targets over the next week, but it will partly depend on the outcome of Iefata Sini's disciplinary hearing tomorrow.

The Wasps winger and Workington scrum half Carl Roden were picked out after a bust-up at Derwent Park was put on report by referee Dave Ansell. If Sini is hit with a lengthy ban, Robinson is likely to make a new winger one of his priorities with Leigh Deakin and Jamie Benn the only other recognised widemen at the club.

Benn is currently flying high in the points-scoring charts.

He has totalled 64 points this season, 25 of them coming from his boot.

Leading the way is Hunslet's Mike Fletcher with 73 points followed by Phil Jones (Lancashire Lynx) 69, Barry Eaton (Dewsbury) 68, Iestyn Harris (Leeds), Benn and Richard Price (Batley) both 64.

Martin Offiah (London Broncos) is the top try-scorer with nine, one ahead of former York Wasp Alex Godfrey (Dewsbury).

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