Hull FC fail to seal signing of Castleford's Rangi Chase

Hull FC have failed to sign Castleford stand-off Rangi Chase before Friday's 14:00 BST transfer deadline.

Black and Whites owner Adam Pearson confirmed visa issues surrounding the New Zealand-born player have put paid to the transfer for now but says the club are still keen on a deal.

"Unfortunately, visa legislation has changed during the past week or so and this has scuppered the deal for now," he said.

"He is still very much on the radar."

Pearson added: "I'm massively disappointed not to sign Rangi ahead of this afternoon's deadline. We've put a lot of effort in over the last 10 days to get him and he was really keen to come here.

"The deal was all set up and he was obviously going to be a very expensive player but one I thought would put bums on seats, give us a bit of creativity and put a spark back into the club."

Chase, who won last season's prestigious Man of Steel award, was recently suspended by the club for breaching club discipline.

He is contracted to the Tigers until 2015 but admitted last month that he would be tempted by a move to Super League rivals Wigan.

Cas chief executive Steve Ferres was confident Chase would return to first team action on Sunday against Warrington if a deal was not concluded.

"Should the visa not be complete, Rangi will remain contracted to Castleford Tigers until 2015," said Ferres.

"He remains available for selection for Sunday's match and our coaching staff are happy with how he has trained with the team this week."