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Last year more than 300 former football, rugby league and rugby union players in the United Kingdom took legal action over brain injuries they claim to have sustained during their playing careers.

When he was reported missing on 5 March, supporters, the town and its respective football and rugby league clubs rallied in the search for the 54-year-old amid a huge public response.

"This is a very sad outcome but there is a heartwarming side to this in what it says about our town and the people in it, and how much a football club and its supporters - and of course the rugby league club - can mean."

The appetite for the international game in the southern hemisphere also waned amid the rise in prominence of State of Origin as a high-profile representative option for New South Wales and Queensland players - and general dominance of Australia's National Rugby League.

The Tonga and Samoa series were well received and a success for England, but all the games were staged at stadiums with capacities up to 25,000 in rugby league's traditional heartland.