Ellis to see out Wakefield contract

Gareth Ellis, the Great Britain centre, will stay with Wakefield Wildcats for the 2005 season.

Negotiations to take the Wakefield captain to Bradford have broken down and, with Warrington, Leeds and Hull having pulled out of the race to sign Ellis, he is now set to see out the final year of his contract at Belle Vue.

Ellis, who was a spectator at Wakefield's 46-6 defeat by Leeds in yesterday's Tetley's Festive Challenge at Headingley, is thought to have rejected so far the offer of a new three-year contract with the Wildcats.

In the absence of Ellis, the Wildcats were no match for the Super League champions, who ran in nine tries. They were 40-0 down when the stand-off Jamie Rooney opened their account with a try he converted himself.

To compound their misery, Wakefield lost their Australian forward Duncan Macgillivray with a dislocated shoulder. However, they expect Macgillivray to be fit for the start of the new Super League season on 13 February.

Scott Moore, the St Helens scrum-half, snatched a late drop goal to inflict a 17-16 defeat on Leigh. The scores were level when Moore, playing against his home-town club, coolly struck the winning point, the first time Saints had led in the match.

Warrington's friendly against Widnes at the Halliwell Jones Stadium was called off just 30 minutes before kick-off because the pitch was frozen.