come on you have to admit your club are taking this dispenation a bit further than other clubs.

Did Catalans not do it to bring in Dobson?

Did the Crusaders, Harlequins and Catalans not recieve massive dispensation on overseas players?

Did Hull FC not get off lightly when fielding an ineligable player because the rules were not stringent enough?

It is NOT ROVERS that are giving the dispensation, the RFL only had to say no and it wouldn't have happened but if you do not as you do not get! Why should anyone at Rovers feel bad about a decision made by the powers that run our game?

The fact is with Dobson and Mason playing the sport is a lot more attractive and surely that is what everyone should want? As said it would be great to have a team full of home grown talent but for the clubs view on this watch our chairman on Hull KR TV who openly admits he thinks it is disapointing and would like that area of the club to grow faster than it is and doesn't see us producing a conveyor belt of talent for around another 5 years. This is a shame but Cas, Quins, Hudds, Leeds, Wigan...etc did not start their youth machines overnight, it took time and to be honest it wasn't long ago we didnt even have a youth team.

What dispensation has been given so far to KR? As far as I can see, they've deregistered a player who was on quota, to allow anther quota player in. Any dispensation must surely only occur when they look to re-register the first player?

Think it's more that the RFL have already given Rovers permission to re-register him.

Also some have problems with Lovegrove being given dispensation even though he could just as easily have an English passport and I'd like to see the RFL argue a case at a tribunal refusing an English citizen the right to work!

pathetic isnt it, dispensation after dispensation.

Why not just a give British players a shot

Not strictly correct. Rovers have been told that they [iwill[/i be given permission. Pedantic I know, but with the RFL it always pays to look at exactly what's been said as they generally leave themselves wriggle room in case circumstances change.

Because that won't bring success in the time-scale that their fans crave and their board has promised to deliver.

Poor show if true. Don't Rovers have to apply for the re-registration? How can they approve something that hasn't been applied for (on the basis that they don't know when it will be). And as I've said before, if the RFL board has to approve the re-registration, doesn't the RFL "decision" put the board in a bit of a corner, if they find a reason not to re-register. Rovers could perhaps claim that they'd been given the OK only to have it turned round. Not very fair to them.

Looks more and more like the RFL are sitting round on their elbows....

But the RFL representative on Humberside stated that the board would only not approve the re-registration if Rovers had quota issues, possible money and salary cap issues. We have none of the above and Dobson will be re-registered without an issue.

Then they need to re-word the section of the Operational Rules that covers re-registration of overseas players. That rule clearly indicates that the default position is to NOT allow re-registration, whereas the actual position appears to be to allow it except in exceptional circumstances.

Check out Hull KR TV for that answer. Our chairman clearly states he is not happy that we are not producing players quick enough but it should within the next 5yrs.

We've had ONE dispensation that I can recall, hardly time after time is it?

The whole league has had it at some point and most of the time it is for the good of the domestic game.

One thing is for sure Liam Watts has probably learnt more this week in training with Willie Mason than he ever did at Castleford alongside other juniors.

I am sure you have watched the tries but look at how motivated the Rovers team was, how excited they were when they got the offloads from Mason, even when they showed Mason coming onto the pitch he was so pumped up getting Scotty Murrell going and others. The guy is good for the game no matter what nationality he is.

You have a point I suppose, maybe you should also look at other instances such as Hall been let go and Phelps being brought in, both can play full back, wing and centre,, or is it just 'pathetic' when its Hull KR in your eyes.

If I were to list the clubs in SL that have employed foreign players instead of giving British lads a go it would save keyboard time by saying 'all of them'. Your hatred for everything and anything Hull KR is duly noted.

No they can't, as you'll soon find out if you play Hall anywhere but centre.

Plus Phelps didn't replace Hall. He replaced Tansey, who we sacked for persistent misconduct.

All in all a pretty crap argument.

No it isn't, you have let go a British player and brought in an Aussie who will fill the positions Hall used to play for you, where the hell is the difference, the poster was complaining that Rovers brought in an Aussie rather than a British player, all clubs have done it Hull included.

Dispensation to cover up this fact isnt going to help is it?
Lovegrove and Mason/Dobson is two.


really? do you have any details of this? What dispensation on the quota have Leeds or Saints had? Bradford?
He also learns more actually playing first team games than training with Mason. The same for all juniors.


In isolation certainly. Nobody has complained at Mason being signed but its having Mason, Dobson, Green, Clinton, Newton, Lovegrove, Fisher, Webster, Galea and Vella which is the issue. Its having more overseas players in the first 17 than british players. Its using loopholes and requiring dispensation to squeeze another in which is the problem.

Phelps has come in as a direct replacement for Tansey, as Kosh said. He played yesterday (Phelps, not Kosh), at full back. Tansey, when not suspended or pi$$ed up, was a full back. Unless you have access to Agar's intentions and game plans (

), I think it [uis[/u a pretty crap argument to say Phelps replaced Hall.

the difference is scale. You are bringing in more overseas players and denying more british players a chance.

Where did I say Phelps REPLACED Hall, I said in response to the accusation that Rovers bring in Aussies and not give British lads a chance that FC had let Hall (British, full back, centre or wing) go and had brought in Phelps (Aussie, full back, centre or wing). I never said he directly replaced Hall, that was not the argument put forward by the previous poster, it was about employing Aussies when British lads are let go or not sought as players.

Our 17 yesterday contained 10 British players, your contained 11, hardly massive difference is there.

we also have too many,

If that is the case, why do need another 3?

Once again, Hall is not a full back. He's played there when we had absolutely no other player to step in, but he is not a full back. Phelps is a full back. It's still a crap argument. Particularly as Phelps was only required when we had to sack the young British player who previously held that position.

Yes and No.

Harlequins Rugby League have never had any dispensation on players of overseas origin.....and I believe have the joint least number of overseas players on their books this year along with Huddersfield.

London RL, also known as the Broncos were given dispensation because they were to all extensive purposes a new team. The were permitted a number of overseas players (I believe it was 13 to start with) on the condition that they reduce this number to the same as everyone else by 2002. This they did and we were pretty much playing on a level field from 2003 onwards......not bad really for a club that was only 15 years old at the time SL started (as I alluded to above, it was actually pretty much a brand spanking new club) and 22yrs old by the time their quota rules were the same as the rest of the league.

Now, you also mentioned Catalans and Crusaders. Whilst there is a rich herritage of RL in south west France, this was pretty much destroyed during the 2nd world war. As a result, they are defined as an expansion club....as are the cottage burners in wrexham. Catalans Dragons Joined SL in 2006.....this is their 10th year as a club. Crusaders are in their 3rd year in SL and are, I believe, 8yrs old this year.

Hull Kingston Rovers are 129 years old this year........they are situated in an area that is rumoured to be a Rugby League Heartland, yet feel the need to stretch their overseas quota to bursting point, even having to make one player a tea boy to make room for a marquee player supposed to boost your average gates to break even level finance and help you kick on from your commendable showing in the previous seasons of SL rugby.

Now....I don't know about you, but using the massive dispensation given to teams designed to grow the game in new areas (or rebuild it in one desimated by the Nazis) to justify the years of neglect of any form of club culture of development is a tad crass.

I have no problem with your ability to stretch the quota to busrting point...what I do have a problem with lame finger pointing excuses like "they did it first"......your club is 3 times the age of the combined total of the expansion clubs...don't use them to explain your own clubs shortcomings.

Lastly...and this is quite important too. It has never been proven beyond doubt that SKY demanded a London Franchise as part of the original SL deal, but it would be a very odd decision to have "fastracked" us as roofs puts it if they Hadn't...therefore, we got our original dispensation as a direct result of RL getting a cash injection that pretty much rescued it as a sport. Without us and probably without the Welsh and dirty French, your club would still be playing games with amateur/semi-pro players in front of a few hundred fans in mid winter whilst Wigan continued to win every trophy going apaert from the occasional season when another club nearly bankrupted themselves trying to play catch up .....but hey, apparently us cockneys bring nothing to the game

Ok pretty good points there but I wasn't saying "they did it first" it was more a point that it should be one rule book for everyone reguardless. If you are giving one team dispensation then you can't go and deny it to another club.

I have never begrudged any expansion club having the chance to play in the SL, I only ever have issues with them being treated differently to anyone else, not that his is the clubs fault more to do with those running the sport.

Just because we are 129 years old doesn't mean we should have a brilliant youth set up. Just over 10yrs ago we were crippled as a club, minutes away from going bust. In todays society we'd have probably just gone bust and started again but instead we fought hard for our club, the fans raised cash to pay players, sign players and make HKR competative again. Then a fan who self made his millions put his money where his mouth was and turned HKR from minnows to competitors but during that spell we had to sacrifice the development of youngsters in the area mainly due to anyone of them that was any good went to FC and the rest were getting hammered every week anyway so a pointless exercise.

Players like Jon Wilkin, Jamie Bovill and Chris Charles all came through our structures and although Bovill never made the big time his potential was there and should have been nurtured but due to our limited resources we couldn't do that for him like Saints and Salford did for the other two.

Taking all this into account the club may well be 129yrs old but our youth structures are in their infancy at around 5yrs old, with the time, effort, money and facilities a Super League club can bring to a thriving area of RL like Hull we should be seeing more youngsters coming through our structures within another 5yrs as stated by Neil Hudgell.

Newsflash: London RL went to the wall in 2005...we weren't minutes from it, It HAPPENED....so I trump your 10yrs with our 6yrs.....as a result of this, we cut our cloth accordingly, pray every night that David Hughes stays healthy and have put up with the laughter as we finished 7th, 9th, 9th, 11th & 13th..........I would add that a fair amount of this laughter was coming from East Hull Fans having a pop at us being fastracked, not deserving of a place in SL and bringing nothing to the game.
Hey..I am a realist.....we will do well to make the 8 this year, we are no doubt punching above our weight and will slip down the table gradually, but we have done it as the RFL laid out they wanted all clubs to do it. With a squad of English players and an academy and under age set up that is churning out players.........not bad for a club that didn't exist 6 years ago.

Our only failings is in our fan numbers....we are reminded of it constantly, but I would still rate us as one of the first 6 names on the SL selection sheet for another 3 years at least.

So you compare a SL club going bust after it has spent almost 9yrs in the top flight beforehand, only went bust to clear its massive debts that it incurred because it had to pay players higher wages than anyone else just to attract them to the club, to one that had never tasted the SL life, had part time players who would often have to miss games due to work commitments, playing through the winter with no real income other than game day?

What a draw HKR must have been compared with a club the SL and RFL would never kick out of the top league. Do your city and surrounding area have any other League options? The Skolars are relatively new to the sport so can't really say them which means ALL the good players from your area will come to Quins, as in Hull all the best talent went to Hull FC because they were where all dreams were made (Horne, Cooke, Yeaman all made debut at a young age).

I don't think we need to play top trumps with who's had it harder, I understand the London based SL outfit has had to struggle through but with Branson, Lennigan and all the help the RFL has given you, you cannot say you haven't had the time and money to create a good youth structure before or after you went bust. Compare that to the words coming out of Eddies mouth on Sky when we got promoted about that the SL wasn't really designed for two clubs from the same city and the massive names of McNichol and Lilley who had to run the club with hardly two pieces of brass to rub together.

For HKR to improve their ground, not have to rely on speedway and dog racing to pay the bills, have a first team that could challenge the top teams in the game while also being able to fund a youth structure that would give the youth in and around the city the best coaching and facilities we had to get promotion by any means necessarry and do it before the licencing came in as we sure wouldn't have got one pre-2005. By not entering certain youth teams and having those costs we were able to gain success with a long term view to give better service to the youth of Hull and East Riding (even Scotland and other areas of the nation).

Not only now do the youth of this City have the choice of two SL sides but also the pick of the best facilities and coaches that can enhance their chances to become the new Richard Horne, Kris Welham or Paul Cooke (playing ability that is!!).