BOLTON Mets rugby league club are tackling the problems of amateur sport - thanks to a little help from one of their biggest friends.

The Withins based organisation have seen their hopes of playing home games sunk after their recent heavy rain waterlogged their Deepdale Road pitch.

"We've not been able to play games there for three weeks. It's just under water," said coach Rick Brooks. "We've asked the council for help but they could do nothing for us. We've just got to wait for the weather to improve."

The club is also suffering from the lack of a sponsor but the effect of that has been alleviated by the support of one of rugby league's biggest clubs, Wigan Warriors.

Over the last few months the Warriors have taken time out of their busy schedule to help and encourage the Bolton outfit.

Their chief coach Frank Endacott has given lots of training and coaching advice to the players while Rick Brooks has been down to the JJB Stadium where he was able to see at first hand the methods Frank and his team use to prepare for matches.

"It was a dream come true," said Rick. "I was able to go out on the JJB pitch and look at their training routine then spent time in the gym watching the players work with the weights. It was fascinating."

Yet the biggest contribution from the pro club came last week when the Warriors handed over a full playing kit to the Mets.

"The club has been so good to us already but this latest gesture was unbelievable," said Rick.

"We lost our main sponsor before the season started and that obviously caused us some financial problems. A new kit would have cost us over £1,000 but out of the blue Wigan came along and offered us the full strip. We were stunned."

Over the years the Mets have started to establish themselves as a force in amateur rugby league.

The club was evolved from Breightmet RL Club, who in turn grew after the original Bolton Rugby League club folded.

They then merged the names of the two clubs to become Bolton Mets and they have grown from strength to strength.

Last season they were promoted to the NW Counties League division five where the 22-strong squad are in third place.

'We've a lot of good friends in the game and the nice thing about rugby league is that everyone is happy to help each other."

Dave Hadfield, a former BEN journalist now working on The Independant newspaper, was one of the founder members of the Bolton RL club and has always taken an active interest in the Mets.

"Through Dave, the St Helens coach Ian Millward and international Tommy Martyn have been down to our club and again it was Dave who put us in touch with Frank Endacott at Wigan.

"We've found that even the biggest names in the game are ready to help clubs at our level. It's not easy organising amateur sport, no matter what it is, but because the big clubs are interested in how we progress we can take a lot of encouragement. It keeps us going."

The club is still on the look out for any form of sponsorship and if anyone can help, Rick can be contacted on 01204 591887.