Some observations from this weekends fixtures against NRL opposition.

1. All Superleague clubs looked fit, strong and fronted up well down the middle, very few line breaks against our teams over the 3 matches.
2. The NRL clubs are better disciplined and make very few errors. If they make an error they front up and seldom get punished.
3. The NRL half backs have a lot more skill and accuracy with the boot.
4. A lot of tries conceded by Superleague clubs came from quality kicks.
5. The NRL forwards share the workload, drive the ball in straight and hard and dominate field position.
6. The NRL clubs are more enthusiastic chasing attacking kicks and their players seem to know when and where a kick is going.
7. Superleague’s biggest weakness for me is that our half backs aren’t in the same league as the NRL’s. We are never going to realistically get better than them them unless we start developing far better quality half backs. Too many years of NRL reject half backs playing in Superleague and not enough British kids being coached to the required standard. Take Widdop as an example, would he be as good as he is if he hadn't been coached in Australia?

All the Aussie sides were relentless to the end. Probably because they need to be in their comp.

The biggest difference for me is £1.80m v £3.50m.

I think all are true points inc the difference in salary cap , them seem much quicker in thought and action and defensively much better . The competion in the NRL is much tougher than ours , Warrington and Wigan both played well but couldnt get past on paper mid-tabel NRL , i always thought Saints could get embarrassed and sadly they did , no lack of effort but totally outplayed in every dept .

Does anyone know what the average yearly wage is for a super league player.

At a guess, I would say the average at a club who is operating at the top of the salary cap is £1.80m divided by 30 man squad so £60k per annum.

I take it not every player will be on 60k each, some will be on less in order to pay the elite players more?

I know the benefits of rugby league having a salary cap but that cap will eventually be more detrimental to the sport than the positives it brings, League is a brutal sport and a players career can be short so tell me why should the elite players put their body on the line week in and week out for £60k a year when they can play union or NRL for £120k a year. I therefore agree with John Gilbert Red that the single biggest difference between the two competitions is the salary cap.

I would imagine the younger members of those 30 man squads will be on something in the region of £20-30k. This would ensure the elite players are therefore earning circa £100k+.

Just increasing the cap won't make the players any better, unfortunately the pool of talent in the UK is limited as the game is limited too certain geographical areas.

Remedy this and we will start too catch the NRL up, if we don't we tread water with the odd win along the way.

Sorry I disagree. Take Theo Fages for example, top player rising star and has the potential to big one of the best players in the game. The French RFU who are struggling at the moment international decide to scout rugby league for the best French players and offer Theo double what he earns now, he would be daft not to go. Surely the pool of talent is limited because the best players go where the money is not because of where they live?

I think going forward a lot more emphasis has to be put on the importance of a top kicking game. I think it has to start at grass roots level with junior development. Kids should be encouraged to practice the accuracy of their kicking game much more. Perhaps training needs to be adapted and tailored with more time dedicated to kicking drills for young half backs.

Maybe the RFL could invest in some special regional Junior development centres, just for kicking development? It astounds me how often you see a professional player kick the ball straight into the arms of a fullback despite having a big wide pitch full of empty space to aim at. It's absolutely criminal.

I disagree. If the cap in Super League was bigger would the Burgess brothers and Tomkins still be in Super League? Also, would Chris Ashton, Kyle Eastmond and Sam Burgess be plying their trade in union. All of those players would make Super League a stronger competition. The more money you can spend, the better quality of player you can retain. As it stands at the moment, Super League becomes weaker every season when the best young talent deserts the competition. Joe Burgess is doing the same at the end of 2015.

I fully understand your point but what if our elite players were offered equal money from the NRL or Union? They could still potentially leave and base their decision on wanting to test themselves in a different competition or they could simply want to experience a change of lifestyle.

I totally agree, you’re always going to get an element of players wishing to try playing either another code or living abroad but you can bet at the moment the biggest factor in them moving is the significant contracts that they’re being offered.

As things stand at the moment, whilst those players are playing well we have no chance of getting them back over here as we cannot compete with the wages.

The Burgess clan, Graham et al are lost to SL. What's important is making sure the next wave of players, the Percival's, Watkins, Suttons etc stay in the league. This can be achieved (at least financially) with the rules the rfl wants to bring in - and have brought in for the championship - without needing to chase "marquee exemptions" and massive cap increases pricing out half our competition.

So why has Joe Burgess decided to join the Roosters for 2016? He hasn’t achieved anything in Super League yet, in comparison to players like Watkins etc so a new challenge can’t be motivation behind his decision. Whatever these rules are that you mention they needed bringing in yesterday.

Also, marquee exemptions and cap increases should be relative to other income streams. If we hadn’t signed such a lengthy tv deal, an increased salary cap bringing the likes of the Burgess, Graham, Tomkins etc back to Super League would surely make it far more desirable and increase it’s product cost. Same goes for sponsorship too. However, as it is we’re tied in for the next x amount of years.

Wigan refused to pay the going rate. They have a wage structure and decided not to break it - it seems to be a lot lower than other clubs. Burgess was courted since the wcc last year by roosters.

I agree, I have said since the rules were put forward in the rfl review in September 2013 that's they should be brought in with immediate affect. And they were brought in for the championship this season. SL clubs are still dragging their heels on the matter at an infuriating level ...

I'm not sure how much value Graham & Tomkins would add to any tv deal. They're recognition %s probably would be around the same levels as mid level prem players at best - not the same affect as a Ronaldo or Messi joining the prem.

There's a good article on RL salaries in February Forty-20.
Some of the points in it have been aired above.

It seems from the evidence that salaries have shrunk.
Wigan's wage bill in 1996 was £4.24 million and reduced to £2.53 million in 1997; the current salary cap is under £2 million. Elsewhere big stars were getting good wages and the others a lot less. Mind you, back then, you also had a job.


Both Wigan and Saints now have the reputation of having low salaries.

As very well expressed on VT, the issue is that few youngsters are taking up the sport and we need get used to this. Soccer/football and Rugby Union have much more attraction (the former can be played anywhere by anyone) and I cannot see that changing in what's left of my lifetime. So we have a very small pool of players compared to Aus.

This has to be nonsense. That's the inflation adjusted equivalent of £7m+ in 2015.

There are two big differences. 1: Talent pool/sourcing of talent. British RL doesn't do anywhere near enough in this respect. 2: Development of talent. The coaching is just not good enough or sophisticated enough at either Junior or Senior level. Differences in salary cap are only really a factor within the domestic leagues. As Marwan is learning the hard way throwing money at the situation is usually pointless if the right development and structures are not in place first or developed in conjunction.

Someone made the point earlier about how Widdop almost certainly wouldn't have developed in to the player he has in Super League and I definitely agree. I was having the same conversation in respect of Richie Myler at the weekend. He had the potential to be so much better had he spent some time in the NRL.

page 20 for your deliction. Further info:
Sheffield Eagles beat Wigan and their salary bill amounted to £780 000 according to Kear. Kear's Wakefield side of 2011 had a total salary of £850 000 In real terms this is a reduction.

I thought one of the major factors at weekend was fitness. When I watched us against saints we seemed to be ok for twenty minutes then completely fell away. I am not privy to this information but who is our fitness conditioner and are they any good?

I think you answered your own question there. Although should professional players also take some responsibility for there own fitness?

Our fitness conditioner is Richie Hunwicks, was highly rated and came from Leeds. However pre-season just gone Harris also brought in Curtis Edgar (www.lifetimeendurance.com/public/276.cfm) to work alongside Hunwicks.

Our fitness conditioner is Richie Hunwicks, was highly rated and came from Leeds. However pre-season just gone Harris also brought in Curtis Edgar (www.lifetimeendurance.com/public/276.cfm) to work alongside Hunwicks.

I haven’t read the [iForty-20[/i article yet but I know Wigan claimed to have spent £3.2m on player salaries in 2001, which is why Super League gave them a dispensation for a year to operate at £2.4m because they couldn’t get under the reduced cap of £1.8m in 2002. Before the 40% limit and 50/50 laws were brought in, the insinuation was that most clubs were spending between 60%–80% of their turnover on player salaries (in which case, Wigan must have turned over impressive numbers).

I’d also like to know if the figures in the article are based on Wigan’s public claims in the 90s and early 2000s or actual accounts.

The only comment I can say regarding the cap is from a personal view point when I passed on a former Wigan player to an IFA for mortgage purposes, his declared salary at the time was declared in excess of £180k, granted personal sponsorship deals formed a small part of it.