WARRINGTON Wolves' chief executive John Smith has taken over part of Maurice Lindsay's duties.

Lindsay is winding up his role as managing director of Super League Europe (SLE) before his retirement in March.

Smith, who sits on the SLE board as a director, has taken on the responsibility of financial director with immediate effect.

The move comes as SLE look to split up Lindsay's duties in order to avoid the cost of replacing him.

Smith said: "I've taken on extra duties, but nothing too onerous. There is already an accountant in place so he'll be taking on the bulk of the work. I'll be making sure accounting information goes out correctly and on time."

With SLE expected to announce a profit in the region of £600,000 for 1998, Smith will play a central role in seeing the cash dished out between clubs.

He added: "£250,000 of the money has already gone to Gateshead and we've been giving out sums to the other clubs through the year so there isn't a major windfall about to happen.

"The 'On the Road' items cost us a lot so that accounts for quite a bit of the money as well. All this has to be explained clearly in the records according to the laws of the land so I'll be overseeing that."

Lindsay's large wage has been paid by the Rugby Football League for the last two years as an incentive for the SLE to take him on board.

This deal is due to end in March and Lindsay's decision to retire seems to be motivated by a realisation that the Super League clubs are unlikely to vote to foot a massive bill to keep him on board in future.

However, he will be staying on in an unpaid, non-executive role to deal with TV contracts and sponsorship deals.

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