Giants dismiss Albert link

Huddersfield have distanced themselves from speculation linking them with former St Helens winger Darren Albert, who walked out on his Australian club Cronulla Sharks.

Reports in Sydney claim the 30-year-old former Newcastle Knights player has been secretly negotiating a return to Super League and that the Giants are his likely destination.

However, Huddersfield general manager Richard Thewliss said: "That's news to me. We do not have a quota place at this club and we have spent up to the salary cap."

Albert, who scored 88 tries in 124 appearances for St Helens, told the club he was quitting to move to England to be with his girlfriend, despite having a year left on his contract.

The Sydney Daily Telegraph claim the player told his team-mates that he was planning to join the Giants in 2007 and an angry chief executive officer Greg Pierce responded by saying Cronulla would blackball Albert from playing in Super League.

"We will stop (Albert) playing in the UK," said Pierce. "He doesn't have a release from us so he won't be playing.

"I can give him a release but put conditions on where he won't be able to play - like in the NRL or the English Super League in season 2007.

"He can go over there and play second division if he wants but he can't play in the Super League.

"If I gave him a clearance to play over there there would be nothing from stopping him coming back to play in the NRL."

Ricky Stuart, coach of Cronulla and Australia, said: "It will be very difficult for him to play in Huddersfield because he is not going to get a release."