www.espn.co.uk/rugbyunion/sport/story/93037.html

www.espn.co.uk/rugbyunion/sport/story/93037.html

The great players who changed and broke away from the Union in 1895 were all "former" Union players.
Never knock Union players who change to League, it was they who started it all!

Suppose we removed the SC completely. What would happen to the clubs, the league, and the players? How would that impact on international player movement?

Never seen a post with so many people panicking that this cap is all about English Club sides coming and taking SL players. This new cap is done to counteract what the French are doing. The increase will mainy go to the players in union now. With the Marquee player already in the club side. English rugby and Welsh have seen a few players go to French club sides over the last few years. Look at Willie Mason he get sniff of a pay cheque and disgraced himself at Hull.

Even with the increas in the NRL next season Mason still went to France and that itself tells you where the biggest pay is in Rugby of either code. So stop panicking calm down and please understand that not everything union does is aimed at Rugby League talent after all apart from Jason Robinson not many have made been a great signning for English Rugby. Faz even did not have the impact that most predicted. Though Ashton is going well he went early enough in his career.

Though i do agree with the marquee signning and defenitely any player from 16/18 upwards who makes it as a regular first team player should cost less than a player clubs sign. Maybe it could be like a percentage for every season a player stays at the club. Say 10% a season so after 10 years it will cost a club nothing and that rewards clubs who produce talent rather than waits for cast offs from the clubs who produced good youg talent.

The point you miss, no doubt deliberately, is that in order to earn a living from sport those Welsh players you mention had no option but to come and play RL. If they could have made a career out of RU in the valley's I am sure they would have done, as they can and do now.

The situations are completely different where now we have a cash rich professional sport RU in a professional era seemingly unable to produce it's own talent. If they do come looking at RL talent it's a pretty sad state of affairs given we are constantly told the games are so different and all the other baloney that surrounds RU.

Thus bit of the article struck me as something we should be doing as a sport:

"Clubs will get a credit in the salary cap of £30,000 per player, up to eight players, for home-grown talent in their senior squads "

We already have the home grown rule to try and get clubs to develop their own players and maybe the RFL think compelling clubs to have a certain number of home grown players means no financial incentive is required. I would disagree if that was their logic because such an incentive would not only help retain players but could actually reduce the costs clubs face at least in the short term as it must be cheaper to bring players through than try and sign even over the hill Aussies.

It doesn't need to be 8 players but if we went to say 5 that is only £150K a year on the cap and given it's been stuck at the current level for several years that would be a really good way to increase it few could argue against. In other words any "poor" clubs who automatically vote cap increases down would look pretty stupid voting against a measure to promote youth in the game so it might be easier to get through the flat earth brigade.

If we can't afford to increase the cap by £150K for a scheme like this we should give up the pretense of being a professional sport and revert back to being semi-pro tomorrow.