Quote ="rhino2009"I agree with you and a great goal kicker as well! The fans in Aus say his individual style is suited to SL and he'll be a big hit. In the past he's had 1/2 personal problems but Rhinos pride themselves on providing support and guidance. I wonder if Gary H agrees with us?'" just read that trent hodgekinson is on his way to super league and his agent is been approaching clubs now i would rather sign him as im sure he has english heritage and could play for england and wouldnt count on over seas quotarugbyleagueweek.com.au/weeks-rlw-6/ james graham wanted him to play for england and had words with mcbanana about him. great kicker and ball player and quick

Quote ="rhino2009"I agree with you and a great goal kicker as well! The fans in Aus say his individual style is suited to SL and he'll be a big hit. In the past he's had 1/2 personal problems but Rhinos pride themselves on providing support and guidance. I wonder if Gary H agrees with us?'" just read that trent hodgekinson is on his way to super league and his agent is been approaching clubs now i would rather sign him as im sure he has english heritage and could play for england and wouldnt count on over seas quotarugbyleagueweek.com.au/weeks-rlw-6/ james graham wanted him to play for england and had words with mcbanana about him. great kicker and ball player and quick

Quote ="HAILESY"just read that trent hodgekinson is on his way to super league and his agent is been approaching clubs now i would rather sign him as im sure he has english heritage and could play for england and wouldnt count on over seas quotarugbyleagueweek.com.au/weeks-rlw-6/ james graham wanted him to play for england and had words with mcbanana about him. great kicker and ball player and quick'" Rather him than Sandow who is a Albert Kelly clone. Leeds need some attacking structure to add to the off the cuff not more off the cuff

Quote ="HAILESY"just read that trent hodgekinson is on his way to super league and his agent is been approaching clubs now i would rather sign him as im sure he has english heritage and could play for england and wouldnt count on over seas quotarugbyleagueweek.com.au/weeks-rlw-6/ james graham wanted him to play for england and had words with mcbanana about him. great kicker and ball player and quick'" Rather him than Sandow who is a Albert Kelly clone. Leeds need some attacking structure to add to the off the cuff not more off the cuff

watch sandow this morning,good kicking game but his defense was awful. hodgkinson would be my choice. parramatta have a young prop called pauli pauli 20 year old big unit and is out of contract at end of season. great runner with the ball and great defense reminds me of one of the burguess twins in his style and play would suit our style of play.

Do we seriously think that the current NSW halfback is going to come to SL and even if he'd had a bump to the head and lost his marbles and agreed to come to England that GH would land him??

Lot might depend on where Hodkinson sees his international future. As the incumbent NSW half-back, he's got a shot at making the Australia side particularly if Cronk moves to SL, which means he'd have to stay in the NRL.

I may be overly pessimistic but I just can't see us signing any big names from Australia. Again may be cynical but I don't think we were ever in for widdop seriously.

There's a few players in front of him to play for Australia, however he can play for England through qualification. Rumour has it were interested and his agent is touting him leadingSL clubs. At the end of the day money talks?

Even if this were true (as opposed to the usual agent PR to create extra imaginary interest to get a better deal where he is) I think there are other chairman in SL that would throw more money at him than GH

Seems to be a lot more than usual in recent years of NRL players apparently interested in coming to SL. Just agents taking advantage of the Marquee rule being introduce over here to scare some club managers down there in Oz really.

He's not even an incumbent club halfback at the moment, let alone an international. NSW fans are questioning Daley's sanity going for him on last year's form and Cherry-Evans is the next in line for Aus halfback, followed by Morgan, Hunt (all Queenslanders), the injured Adam Reynolds and probably half-a-dozen others.

He could be a good player again in SL but I'd say Sandow has more talent and a higher ceiling if he has his head screwed on.

They both could improve us in different ways. Both are good goal kicker s, Sandow more individual qualities and Hodkinson more structured and a team player, I prefer the latter?

so why are some big names players not yet got a contract for next season.billy slater,same thaiday,dave taylor, frank prichard and clubs offing to pay towards there wages just to get them off there cap. its either they are planning for the future or a lot of nrl clubs are skint. i personally think its both,the new tv deal money either isnt come through yet or are not willing to pay big wages to players after one last big pay day.they have younger players coming through and trust them to fill the void. is the nrl all its cracked up to be at this moment no even the origin seems to of lost is sparkle. it was all about the biff but even that gone. i watch every game and its not much better super league

Sandow is great one week, dreadful the next three. If you want structure he'd literally be the last halfback you'd look at. Hodkinson is average as a playmaker but a good kicker and reasonably strong in defence. He works well in a structured environment and in tight games but creates very little. He and Josh Reynolds are probably the least creative Origin partnership ever.

Again though, I've no idea why anyone would prioritise a halfback for Leeds at this stage. I'd certainly say neither Hodkinson or Sandow would be a significant upgrade on what we already have in Sutcliffe/McGuire.

I've just read that Salford's owner has called a press conference next Tuesday to announce the signing of 2 world class props. I wonder who they are and I hope they're not anybody we are after?

They're bound to be.....

(Unless it's Peacock and Kylie of course?)

Rumour is that one of those could be Martin Tapau (there's been plenty of rumours on this, and over the weekend Salford and their staff started following him on social media) - that would be a great signing, he's young and an absolute beast, but he'd be well sought after by pretty much every NRL club, so he'll be on a huge salary if true.

I actually think it would be a terrible move for Tapau, he's only just started to show what he can do over the past 12 months, coming to Super League could really curtail his development - if he stays in the NRL, he'll develop into a much more consistent top line prop/loose.

I honestly think the new ‘Marquee’ rule sound good in principal but will not, in practice, bring any ‘Marquee’ players to SL.

The standard of player that we, the rank & file supporter would class as marquee would be the likes of Cronk, GI, Barba, Gallen, Slater, Thurston or Cam Smith etc. but in reality why would any of them want to ply their trade in SL?

Think about it for a minute, we may just be able to match their NRL salaries but that’s about it. They’d have to relocate to northern England from Sydney, Brisbane or somewhere equally as decent, where they are constantly recognised and appreciated. They will be leaving their friends and family, taking their kids out of school, losing the opportunity to play Origin or Rep football and playing in a ‘lesser’ competition… for the same money!

Look at Cam Smith for example. He is currently earning £750,000pa (wage + media deals) – we would have to substantially better that deal for him to even contemplate moving to the UK. Even the most affluent clubs in SL would struggle to pay that kind of wage let alone better it.

IMO we’re not going to see any ‘Marquee’ signings next year… or any other year come to think of it.

How are those players any more a "marquee" player than a Watkins, a Roby, a Hill, a Peacock, a Harris, a Morley, a Senior, a Sinfield, a Graham, a Burgess, a Tomkins, etc, etc. I could go on with that list throughout the last decade or so. The point is that whoever you put down for this to the regulator their full salary does not count on the cap, only a certain portion. That is all it is. And with that in place, super league might never have a lost a Graham, a Burgess, or a Tomkins, or indeed a Eastmond.

Taupau would be crazy to come to England. Beast of a player and would kill it over here though, but also could take his pick of NRL clubs if Wests were selling, which they've shown no inclination to. Also hard for him to get selected for NZ if he's not in the NRL, and he's a cert for them otherwise.

David Taylor strongly rumoured for Salford (not really a prop but suppose he could play there). Maybe Galloway? Shillington is apparently staying with Canberra and Gallen is signing on for another year at Cronulla. Pickings getting slim.

Some people - Buderus for example - would come to SL precisely because it's *not* the NRL and they want to take advantage of another country or way of life before they retire from the sport. This only applies to those at the veteran stage, but a veteran Cronk or Gallen would still be a marquee crowd-puller.

Then there are those like Bird, Lyon, Carney, Lauititi who for one reason or another feel they need to leave the Southern hemisphere or the NRL. You can add codejumpers like Folau, SBW and Sam Burgess to that list. It's hard to predict who these are going to be, but at least our marquee allowance gives them an option beyond RU.

Doesn't matter who Dr Gob signs they will either under achieve & go home early or use Salford as a stepping stone ala Tasi to move onto a bigger team.
He should concentrate on paying his staff etc on time and actually building the club rather than his outbursts and throwing money at players only signing for big pay days.

So you are saying the point of the Marquee rule is for player retention and not to attract big names, such as the ones I mentioned to SL.

Well thanks for putting me straight - I'd got completely the wrong end of the stick.

Bird, Lyon and Lauitiiti signed under completely different circumstances, at the time the £ was much stronger against the $AU and the salary caps were comparable - Carney only signed for Catalan because he p*ssed in his own mouth and no-one else would have him.

If Buderus didn't want to play in the NRL any more then why did he return after his short stint at Leeds?

Codejumpers do it for the money - plain and simple.

I am saying the purpose is for player retention or new player whatever the club decides to do. But whichever way you go, the result is exactly the same, Player A only has X amount of his salary against the cap. In the case of player retention you get rewarded more.

Buderus went back because Bennett went as coach and Buderus wanted to play for Bennett.