another story in RLW says wigan have secret plans to ditch all imports within 5 years. dont know if this is because of the RFL reducing the quotas allowed buts its a good thing

other SL clubs are set to follow suit

the article also says luke patten is being chased by the giants to replace hogdson

I disagree, I think having imports improves our game for the compeition and the supports having the chance to watch players like Lyon, Vainakolo and the Paul Brothers is something that i would miss.

What the RFL needs to do is tighten up the quota rules so that no club can have more than say 4 quota players, make it tight so there are no loopholes, soemthing like they are born in Europe or have European passport and have come through at European Rugby clubs youth system. Quite hard to do, but I'm sure they can improve on the current system.

You're bang on Dave. I don't mind maybe 3 imports, but I can't stand it when Jason Demetriou isn't an import player because he sounds greek.

nothing wrong with imports as long as they are a suitable calibre. I'd make it rep players within the last 3 years only.

nowt wrong with having 3 or even 4 high class imports...its the gash ones we need to get rid of...we have our own gash players...

I agree JB, it's just i'm not sure how legal that is. All the equality rubbish makes it hard to put guidelines like that in.

don;t they already have some criteria with having tp have played so many NRL games in the last two years? The RFL can basically work with the Govt to come up with anything they like (or there are ways and means such as linking the club grant to number of English players, salary cap restrictions etc.) If there was a will I'm sure there is a way!

I think in sport it has something to do with appearances for club and country. I remember reading something about Man Utd waiting a work permit on a Mexican player due to this.

with our salary to rise to $6 - 7 million by 2012, SL wont be able to afford them

theres a very good chance that the flow of players will go the other way, especially if the dollar stays strong.

Think they will come a time in the next couple of years where the salary cap will have to be increased to fight off the NRL and Union, whose Cap is much higher than ours.

Not sure if some clubs would be ablt to afford the increase though as tehy are already struggling.

the problem is who can afford the cap to raise?

SL will just have to start developing more players

on what ive seen from burgess, ellis or flanagan, it shouldnt be a problem

the nrl is never going to be a big threat to SL but having say 10 - 20 players in the nrl will be very good for the advancement of RL.

after all morley returned, so will burgess, ellis etc.

Bang on Dally, SL is producing more and more home grown players by the season anyway. I'm not particularly worried if 10 or 20 of our stars go to the NRL. It's better than them going to yawnion.

watch international RL boom when england beat australia in a WC final.

australia vs england is much bigger than aus vs nz

Not many, you would hope that the RFL would get a better TV deal and the extra money each club gets could be used to increase the cap.

Good on Wigan for taking the lead with this. Quins have a real aspirataion to bring through Londoners which can be seen in the committment to the youth policy

Any extra money from a Sky deal must be directed at elite players and not the clubs, who have a history of abusing it to the detriment of the game in this country.

It would be great to see 10 Englishmen in the NRL and 2 imports at each SL club. I hope Wrexham can make it and target a few current RU internationals.

Do you have a link?

Ian Lenagan (our chairman) has constantly spoke since day one about a real commitment to not overlook the talent in our own backyard and to bring through as many young lads as possible. We've taken various steps to make this a success and players like Sam Tomkins, Joel Tomkins and Lee Mossop have really stepped up under Mike MaGuire. We've many more making their way through, Eamon O'carroll, Paul Prescott, Mike McIlorum, Shaun Ainscough, Darrell Goulding, Liam Farrell (Andy Faz's cousin), Ben Davies, Stefan Marsh, Joe Mellor, Chris Tuson, John Walker, Josh Charnley and Josh Vievers. Mike MaGuire has given four lads their debuts this season and we have around 8 or 9 players on dual registration.

I don't think we'll look to abolish all overseas players, but we will have less than most other clubs that's for sure. There is a real Wigan ethos about who Lenagan wants at the club. All the backroom staff for example are Wiganers/former Wigan players (excluding MaGuire of course) and his last two signings are both Wigan-born players in Martin Gleeson and Paul Deacon. Personally, I'm all for bringing on our own players, but we have to accept that some wont be good enough and we'll need to look at other British players or Australian/New Zealand alternatives. Likewise, I don't think we should sign a players simply because he was born in Wigan. At the end of the day we need the right player and whether that be someone born in Leeds or London it doesn't matter to me. It's about getting the right player.

Luke Pattern would be a good signing for Huddersfield. He's a decent player, but is prone to the odd error and brain fart every now and then, but he would go well in Super League.

Quote ="jonny the leyther"You're bang on Dave. I don't mind maybe 3 imports, but I can't stand it when Jason Demetriou isn't an import player because he sounds greek.'" Jason Demetriou is Australian with Greek & Canadian descent and he could have an english passport now as well. link 4 canada rl www.independent.co.uk/sport/gene ... 24009.html link 4 greece rl www.rleague.com/db/article.php?id=26728

Quote ="jonny the leyther"You're bang on Dave. I don't mind maybe 3 imports, but I can't stand it when Jason Demetriou isn't an import player because he sounds greek.'" Jason Demetriou is Australian with Greek & Canadian descent and he could have an english passport now as well. link 4 canada rl www.independent.co.uk/sport/gene ... 24009.html link 4 greece rl www.rleague.com/db/article.php?id=26728

Aren't all clubs supposed to be on some glide path to reduce imports? I know the rules got watered down but once those on existing contracts start to leave we should start to see changes at all clubs.

I do wish people would stop harping on about legality. This is and always has been a red herring. There has never been anything the RFL can do to stop clubs hiring players that are legally entitled to work in the UK via passport etc. It has always been a matter of clubs being more than willing to run roughshod over any attempts by the RFL to cut imports in the name of short-termism.

Hopefully Wigan's attitude is symptomatic of the slightly longer term view clubs can now take under the franchise system.

All clubs are improving, even the ones still with many imports.
People complain about a weaker standard of competition over the past 18 months but we have gone to 14 teams AND trimmed imports down. I'd hazard a guess that the average team has shed 3-4 imports over the last few years

The RFL is tightening up the quota rules. Started in 2008 and goes as follows:

Each club is allowed

2008
At least 5 home grown players.
No more that 5 overseas quota players.
No more than 10 overseas trained players inc the 5 quota players.
Rest of the squad to be from players trained within the same federation.

2009
At least 6 home grown players.
No more than 5 overseas quota players.
No more than 8 overseas trained players inc quota players.
Rest of squad to be from players trained within same federation.

2010
At least 7 home grown players.
No more than 5 quota players.
No more that 6 overseas trained players inc quota players.
Rest of squad to be from players trained within same federation.

2011
At least 8 home grown players.
No more than 5 quota players.
No more than 5 overseas trained players inc quota players.
Rest of squad to be from players trained within same federation.

KEY
Home grown players - any player still under 21 and/or has completed 3 years service with the same clubs academy set up.

Same federation - any player still under 21 and/or has completed 3 years service with other clubs academy set ups within UK (for UK SL clubs) or France (for Catalans etc)

Overseas quota players - as per current rules i.e. Anyone unable to prove origins within EU or Kolpak countries.

Overseas trained - any other overseas player (EU passport or Kolpak etc.)

IIRC anyone who joined a club before these rules were implimented doesn't count as non-federation/quota unless they change clubs. I think that was due to the threat of a legal challenge from a Bradford player. This has no restriction on nationality just where a player was trained to avoid any conflict with EU employment legislation. For example Tommy Leuluai is federation trained and home grown for quins (if he ever went back) as he spent 3 years there under the age of 21. Harrison Hansen is home grown for wigan.

The original story came from the rumour section of RLW. If there is any truth in it, it is disappointing, because this major focus on overseas players is largely a red herring, it is missing the point. In any event, there are probably just as many, if not more, overseas trained players in the NRL system (NRL, NRL Under 20s, NSW and QLD Cups). Read [url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/303021Who's the next star as Kiwis flood NRL[/url. There are at least 92 overseas trained RL players the NRL system, of a variety of abilities - they include products of:
New Zealand Rugby League (83),
English Rugby League (4),
French Rugby League (1),
Papua New Guinea Rugby League (1),
South African Rugby Union (2)
Tongan Rugby Union (1).

The New Zealand Warriors aren't counted, but they have at least 7 imports, 28% of their elite NRL squad.

I wouldn't be happy if I thought my club wasn't chasing the very best overseas players to compliment the English players in the side.

Australian and NZ players, at their peak, mostly don't contemplate going to Super League, as they stay in NRL to try to win NRL premierships, play Origin or to play international football (for the Kangaroos or Kiwis). If Super League clubs were encouraged sign overseas players that then dedicate themselves to playing for non Big 3 nations (assuming they were already eligible), then that would be great for the game. Those players would likely dedicate themselves to Super League for the long haul anyway.