The bottom line is cash, they have it we don't.

Sure you ca say drop the salary cap. Some clubs will compete. But this will only result in wage inflation. The players will not become better because they are paid more and eventually 10 years down the line we will have clubs whose chairmen have debted them up to the eye balls left with no benefactor and debts they and the fans cannot afford.

We need to grow our market. That means clubs breaking even, that means rather than a salary cap there is a brealk even cap or minimum profit level. If benefactors want x or y player let them sign them but the club must be able to turn a profit. If the wages are too high then either the player cannot be sign or the benefactor takes on the liability not the club.

We need solvant business' as in the end when the money men get tired and leave, its the fans who have to see their team, break up , get relegated, die.

If you can bring in more money then fair enough sign who ever on what ever, but lets not go pre SL where clubs were all mortgaged to the hilt and ready to sink, because this time there will be no SKY to save us all, as they are already here.

To be fair though have union got the wrong Tomkins. Joel? really. I'd have been surprised if he was picked for england RL.

The problem is a lack of ambition and you see it in the way Warrington are criticised.

Simon Moran is a wealthy bloke who wants to invest money in the sport, he has the contacts and the influence to get people to come over, he turned us from a small time club in the early 2000s to a club who guys like Adrian Morley, Martin Gleeson, Andrew Johns, Matt King and Michael and Joel Monaghan wanted to join.

When we signed Andrew Johns we had other clubs fans bleating about how it was against the spirit of the game to sign a player on a short term deal like that.

When we signed King, Monaghan and co we had other clubs fans bleating about why are Warrington allowed to sign all these players, and pay them all this money etc.

It has to be said that whilst he may be a controversial character, the great Maurice Lindsay never lacked ambition and he would have never criticised Warrington for this. If Maurice was still around he would have argued that the salary cap should be scrapped and clubs allowed to get the best players from all over the world. As John Monie said in his book, Maurice always shopped from the top shelf (well until he started getting old and thinking that O'Neill, Ainscough, Vaealiki were top shelf).

I would like us to go back to the days of the late 1980s and early 1990s when rugby league clubs were signing the best players from all over the world....Wigan went out and got Brett Kenny, Gene Miles and Dean Bell. Leeds went out and got Cliffy Lyons and Saints got Mal Meninga. The famous All Blacks were the best RU team in the world so Wigan went and signed Frano Botica and Inga Tuigimala, Leeds signed John Gallagher and Craig Innes. Wales won the Triple Crown and so Widnes went and signed Jonathan Davies, Warrington signed Allan Bateman, Saints signed Scott Gibbs.

If we scrapped the salary cap and encouraged investment and ambition in league, this world cup could be a big shop window for Super League, it could be the greatest league and the greatest sport in the world.

But now we prefer to have the salary cap and equality and prizes for turning up and finishing 5th in the league.

I blame New Labour and their pc leftists. Rugby league was better in Mrs Thatcher's day.

Not too long ago I used to be in regular touch with Red Hall and SL in relation to ties between them and RLFANS. At the time Richard Lewis was running the show and I can honestly say I felt the game was safe in his hands. Lewis is a very sharp operator. Intelligent. Observant. Willing to accept input from others but knows that ultimately the buck stops with him. In all my dealings with Richard and [isome[/i people at Red Hall I don't think I ever felt disappointed.

Then came Nigel Wood. Here is a guy who was a laughing stock [ibefore[/i he got into Red Hall (the Bluesox fiasco). But Wood must talk a good game because no matter how silly he gets the further he rises. Now he's sat on Mount Olympus and I feel the game has never been under greater threat. I don't know anyone who has any time for him but ATEOTD he's the boss.

I saw Lee Mossop driving this car out of Widnes after the St Helens game, maybe the all swap cars with each other



Anyway it will be very interesting to hear what news comes out tomorrow in this press conference. At present I couldn't give two hoots about the new coach, I want to know what the situation is with Sam and Joel.

Joel I can come to terms with losing, even though it is still unacceptable. But losing Sam is not a question.

Sam considering Souths aswell as Union within the next few years.

Sams not good enough for Union....tell me a position he could play?

Joels a natural....hes a natural RU centre..........now if only we had kept him in the 2nd row...i doubt RU would have noticed the potential

and as for Sam's car he has a red Audi A5 and is pally with a guy who works with Infinity. He has had a convertable and a jeep style motor of them to drive around. Not jealous honest.

Good.

Give me the choice of Souths now or union in a couple of years and I'd sadly have to say thanks and good luck in Oz.

I'd help him pack his bags if it meant he was staying clear of that pathetic, talentless, middle class borefest.

Whilst I obviously prefer league, it would be wrong to say that RU is a "middle class" game.

Ask Chris Ashton about the demographic of an average Northampton supporter, or go to Gloucester and look around the ground.

Sadly for RL, RU is the "accepted" form of rugby in the majority of the country. Even non Rugby fans will watch an international (and make a social occassion out of it).

The advertising follows. This is the cornerstone of it's popularity. It is not the product on the pitch.

I'm sure the RFL would act if they had the money, but they don't. Perhaps if all the internationals this coming autumn were to be sellouts that would put money in the RFL coffers, which they could use to hold on to players like Joel Tomkins. The reality is though that the games won't be sold out, and that = more Rugby League players going to union. The reality is as well that some Rugby League fans will use pathetic excuses not to attend the internationals. Also look at the pathetic crowds some the play off games got, which in turn means that the clubs have less money to retain their best players with.
If fans want their clubs to hang on to their best players more fans need to be coming through the gates at club and international level its as simple as that, and to stop finding pathetic excuses NOT to attened games.

What position will Joel Tomkins play in RU?

He's only a half-decent RL centre and hasn't got a chance of playing in the forwards. He make his money from this initial contract then return to rugby league.

Centre in Union is completely different. Inside centre is generally a ball playing centre, Andy Farrell ended up playing there but didn't really have the speed. Outside centre would be where Joel would end up. This is were Tindall, Nonu, Tuilangi.... Play. Big, strong, fast (the exception being Tindall). He's perfect for that role really.

Well Done Mr. Leneghan by needlessly delaying the appointment of Shaun Wane, you have ensured that the press conference will not be about the new coach, but all the questions will be about the Tomkins brothers

They have the money to pay Gareth Thomas wages. They have the money to go off at a tangent with Millenium Magic instead of promoting the International game.

The cost of attending the play offs if you go to all the games will cost more than a season ticket and for a family is ludicrously expensive.

So to suggest low attendance is all the fans fault and so they are to bvlame for why we are in a poorer state compared to RU is simplistic in the extreme. Our sport is run by low calibre people such as Nigel Wood who seemingly have a job for life and are answerable to no one. He in particular seems to think gimmicks like the club call in the play offs are what matters. We are long overdue a clear out at the RFL with ome new blood injected. Richard Lewis and Nigel Wood are past their sell by date.

The RFL and the poor way it has promted the International game is a big reason why we can't compete with RU internationally. They used to be big events played at Wembley and Old Trafford not the DW statium or the Galpharm Stadium.

However if you look at the forthcoming Wembley internationals while they won't be a sell out they have already sold more tickets than any in recent years. On the back of very low expectations from England. Playing at Wembley already adds status ot the game and is why it has been a mistake all these years to avoid the place.

Now that won't go down well on here - but it is true.

IL is supposed to be able to predict the future now is he? Pathetic.

The saddest thing of all is that you look at almost all the most talented young players in RL and feels like its a matter of when not if they will jump ship to RU or NRL but when you look at how short a rugby career is you have to make the most you can while you have the chance. If the figures being quoted are accurate then no-one could blame them imo.

This.

I wouldn't let Nigel Wood run a bath.

Exactly. What gets me is how hard can it be? All it takes is a bit of common sense imo. You can even Canvass fans opinions and they will come up with all the good ideas for you



Trouble is these fat whoppers at the RFL arent in touch with reality.

+1

But the fella is basically untouchable.

about 12 months ago, I was invited to an RFL focus group about how to improve the game etc....

The guys running it obviously had a set agenda of questions to ask about different topics - and wasnt for deviating from this despite what anyone in attendance was saying.

for example, one of the questions repeatedly asked was - "should the GF be played at the Emirates Stadium?" To a man, everyone in the room said No - but they obviously had an agenda to push it. The other day, I read somewhere that the Emirates Stadium is under consideration for the Grand Final.

another was, "how great is the Magic Weekend?" - there was plenty of discussion about where and when it should be played. A few people suggested it was a bad idea, they were ignored, and the constant message was that it is happening whether you guys like it or not.

There was plenty of good ideas generated by the fans, but they werent for listening.

to be fair, Nigel Wood is obviously a good finance man. As finance director, the RFL went from a massive loss and debts, to being profitable.

I do have doubts over his strategic, leadership and marketing skills though.

This is exactly it. The fans have got their finger on the pulse of the game and have more knowledge about it than any idiot in a suit and at the end of they day they are the ones pumping the money in too. The way that meeting was run pretty much sums up how the RFL is run. How they want it whether its right or not and its tough titties if you dont like it.

Also, if you havent heard yet, havent looked through the other pages, apparently its 325k for Joel Tomkins to Saracens, who will be paid 400k a year.