Featherstone Rovers are set to take legal action after sacking John Duffy on the grounds of gross misconduct.
The Championship club say formal action has commenced against their former head coach after they alleged the 38-year-old engaged in discussions to become the new head coach of Leigh Centurions.
Rovers claim Duffy didn’t attend the club’s first day of pre-season training on November 12th and has not shown up for work since.
TotalRL revealed last week the former Swinton chief was moving closer to joining the Centurions due to uncertainty over his contractual status with Featherstone.
However, Fev have been left angered by the news and are preparing to take legal action.
Duffy arrived at the West Yorkshire club following the departure of Jon Sharp last year and guided them to seventh in the Qualifiers. However, his first and only full season in charge saw Featherstone miss out on the top four.
In a club statement, Featherstone said: “It is disappointing that the club has had to take this stance, especially after Duffy was awarded an extension to his contract, through to the end of the 2020 season.
“It also appears that Duffy has been engaged in discussions with Leigh Centurions, to take over as head coach.
“Formal action is now being taken against Duffy for breach of contract and Leigh for inducement to breach contract.
“As this is a legal matter, it would be inappropriate for the club to make any additional comments at this stage.”
Strength and conditioner Greg Stebbings and reserve team head coach Paul March are leading pre-season at the minute while the club finds a replacement. Former Rochdale coach Alan Kilshaw is understood to be among those in the running for the job.