Huddersfield Giants are expected this week to announce the signing of the highly rated Todd Carney, who was dismissed by Canberra Raiders last month for refusing to stop drinking alcohol after a series of damaging incidents in Australia.

Although Carney's short career in the NRL has been overshadowed by controversy, it has not prevented engage Super League clubs clamouring for the 22-year-old's signature. Huddersfield have beaten off competition from Wigan Warriors, who had considered Carney as a stand-off replacement for Trent Barrett, who is returning to Australia in 2009.

Huddersfield's appointment from next season of Nathan Brown, the St George Illawarra Dragons coach, appears to have been a factor in Carney opting for the Giants. “I know he sees this move as something of a lifeline,” Brown said. “I'm obviously well aware of his past, but there's no way I would have taken him on board if I wasn't 100 per cent convinced.”

Carney has been de-registered by the NRL for 2009, thus forcing him to look overseas, and his transfer on a probable one-year deal will have to be sanctioned by the RFL, which, as yet, has had no application for him to be registered as a player in Britain.

The atmosphere here will be far less claustrophobic than he has been used to in Australia, where his drinking antics have been headline news, including a police car chase last year while he was suspended for drink-driving. He served 200 hours' community service. In July, he was alleged to have urinated on a man in a Canberra nightclub. The club gave Carney an ultimatum, in the form of a five-point plan, and sacked him when he refused to agree to it.

Harlequins have signed Luke Williamson, 30, the Manly Sea Eagles forward, on a two-year contract. “Luke will bring a fair amount of grunt, with the ability to play a bit,” Brian McDermott, the coach, said. “His personality suits what we have going on in London.”

Toulouse Olympique have accepted an invitation by the RFL to play in Co-operative National League One for three years from 2009, after the French club's Super League licence application in July failed. Toulouse will use the time in the lower-tier British competition to prepare a renewed bid for 2012. The RFL is to offer financial assistance to existing clubs to help to offset travel costs.

Paul Sculthorpe's career is in the balance after he dislocated a shoulder in the opening minute of St Helens' Carnegie Challenge Cup final victory on Saturday, and Mike Bennett, 28, Sculthorpe's fellow back-row forward, has announced his retirement because of a succession of shoulder injuries. In addition to Sculthorpe's contract not being renewed, St Helens are set to release Nick Fozzard, the prop, who is expected to join Hull Kingston Rovers, and Willie Talau, the centre.