Next 4 years. Just shown live on Facebook

Great news. One off the best half backs for a fair few years. Outstanding young talent.

Obviously using the new 2nd player marquee rule, can someone explain to me how the marquee rule works for club trained players?

Only £75k of his salary will count on Wigan's cap.

Is that for both Marquee players?

So we could use it for Houghton and say he is on 125k only 75k of that would count on the cap, what is the deal for overseas marquee players?

If club trained only £75k would count for any player who has been designated as a marquee player (think we'll get a reduction for Tomkins next season).

To be regarded as a marquee player would have to be paid more than £175k in actual salary:
- If club trained only £75k counts on the cap.
- If not club trained £150k counts on the cap.

To be eligible as a marquee player any player (home grown or not) has to be paid at least £175k but otherwise yes, just as you wrote. For non home grown players the salary is counted as £150k

I'm glad Wigan have come out and said he's the marquee signing. Creates some media attention. No idea why we shoot ourselves in the foot and have marquee players but keep it under wraps like its some dirty secret, even though everyone knows who the marquee players are anyway.

Thanks, made sense now.

Wont be one at Leeds unless the CEO counts on the cap!!

Only two marquee players in the league and both are at Wigan.

I though I read Saints (Roby) was also a marquee player.

Still early days and I'd expect a couple of other clubs, probably Salford and Warrington to have marquee players next season.

Pretty sure last year it was Pritchard, Sandow and Tomkins. Leaving just Sam now.

Surprised clubs with endless supply of money, Salford and Warrington for example haven't been all over it. Although Wire apprently threw a massive offer at Williams.

So what does this say about the "Marquee Player" system

One played in 10 minute busts with a 20 minute rest, one turned out to be the incredible sulk and the other a returning player with a serious injury that restricted his opertunity of staying down under.

All the very best players will stay in the NRL were average salary 's are equal to our marquee ranges but the competition is of a higher standard.

3 or 4 clubs paying 2 players the equivalent of a championship teams total playing budget cannot be good for the future of the game.

That's great news for Wigan & RL in england as he is a top talent for the rest of us to see & develop more at wigan , Only fear i have for the lad is he does not get burnt out but hopefully Wane will look after him.

So basically - the only party to benefit from the new marquee player ruling is Wigan. Great stuff.

They've spent the money investing in their players development, so why shouldn't they benefit from a rule that allows them to keep them?

I thought the marquee player rule was designed to bring in new players from either NRL or RU - or is it a gimmick to stop current players leaving ? If its the latter then all we are doing is topping up their pay packet.

And what's so bad about that?

God forbid a team should get rewarded for spending a fortune of cash and effort on young player development.

Anyway, i see it as good for SL in general that we appear to have stopped another player doing one to the southern hemisphere.

So what if we top their pay packet up? Thats a good thing.

EDIT - just re read and found this little diamond " or is it a gimmick to stop current players leaving?"

Seriously? eh??

More crucially to help RL keep it's best players.
Williams certainly comes into that category or, do you think he's an "average Joe".

There is no way that, even with the marquee player rule, RL can entice top RU or NRL players as their respective caps dwarf ours.
You could say that once again the RFL have "mis sold" the idea but, if it allows Wigan (or any other club) to hang on to the best British players, that has to be good for the game.

Why is it a gimmick the best players not leaving? Surely this is a good thing.

I think RU players get an exemption if they bring someone in from RU as well. So Williams & Tomkins could be their marquee players, and they could sign Eastmond and he would get part of his wage exempt from the cap too.

I don't get the part about topping up his pay packet. You want to watch the best players, you have to pay for it. You would rather we don't spend money on the best players and see them go to the NRL? Lets just go back to semi-pro rugby as being FT is just "topping up pay packets" as you put it.

I just don't understand how anyone can find a negative in one of the leagues best players staying in SL.

Ok then - I ask you this. Why is only one club out of 12 using the MP rule ? It's certainly not financial.

Cause over the last five years that club have had their best homegrown players tapped up to play NRL/RU. Not imports, our youth. Our conveyor belt of youth that has been the club's strength for years and years.

BTW - How's Solomona doing these days? With all the bitching and wailing on social media over that one maybe we thought you'd understand the importance of keeping the best players in SL.

It certainly is financial.

Except for Salford, where Koukash is sulking.