Well we told you it was unfortunately going to be a “no-goer” but now Getnoticedonline can officially confirm that Graham Holroyd is not joining Whitehaven,

It was a bold move by Whitehaven to sign the 32-year-old former Halifax playmaker but it looks as though he is on his way to Swinton Lions.

The Recreation Ground club actually came close to recruiting Holroyd after re-signing talks with the player and Halifax had broken down.

Holroyd had rejoined Fax in 2007, almost a decade after leaving for Salford and was awarded the Player of the Year by the club's supporters last month.

The official Halifax RFL website reports: Graham Holroyd has been told he won't be receiving a further contract offer from Halifax for 2009.

Chief executive Graham Clay said: "He was among the first group of players who were offered new contracts in late July, but chose not to accept it at that time.

"The contract was an improvement on his current deal, and included an assistant coaching role. By mid-September we had still not heard back from him, despite repeated attempts to get him to talk to us.

"We were surprised, especially after the club persuaded the RFL to grant him a three-month testimonial, which we felt would be well supported in his home town. Given his apparent unwillingness to sign a new contract, we therefore had to look at other options and withdrew the original contract offer."

Clay insisted there "hasn't been a falling out", highlighting the player's age - Holroyd has already admitted that next season would be his last - and the need to build a side ahead of the next round of Super League licence applications in 2011 as key factors in the decision to withdraw from negotiations.

"Graham has been a great player for Halifax over the last couple of years, especially with his goal-kicking, and we appreciate his efforts," said Clay.

"But there comes a time when it's in the best interests of both club and player to go in a different direction. We want to build a younger team who can grow together over the next three years.

"We also have a couple of other signings waiting in the wings, but we have a limited budget and couldn't conclude those until we knew what Graham was doing. It's probably better that we do this now."

Whitehaven, who have already signed National Two Player of the Year Danny Russell would have been pulling-off a major signing if Holroyd had put his name on the dotted line.

Apparently he did agree to the terms Whitehaven were offering but then had a change of heart, mainly it appears, because of work commitments.

It’s been a record breaking season for Holroyd as he went past the club’s goal-kicking best-ever total of 147 which had been established in 1955-56 by Tysul Griffiths. He did that in 44 matches – Holroyd equalled it in his 25th match. He finished with 153 in 26 games.

He was the National League’s second-leading points scorer, just ahead of Haven’s new capture Russell (Gateshead Thunder) but behind a former Recreation Ground favourite Mick Nanyn who has now joined Harlequins.

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