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.

I'm not quite sure of the timings, but wasn't Wood's fingers all over Halifax when they went tits-up?

No he can't predict the future but you can bet the next time he has some good news he won't sit on his backside with it. Unless he won't learn from his mistakes that is.

I am sure he was. Ask any Fax fan who was around at the time and they would quite happily lynch him.

Of course the business end is important, but you also need a product to make that business/club viable. You talk about growing our market, but how can clubs put themselves in a position to make more money when the top athletes in this competition are leaving? Everyone agrees the game needs more money. Every sport/business will want/need more money. But how can we possibly go about generating this when the best players in our competition are leaving for other sports/competitions? What do we do? Do we sit here and watch our best talent get cherry picked by rival comps/sports or do we try to do something about it?

There's no easy answer. The game needs money. We've apparently made record profits at the RFL and have a record new television deal with Sky. We should be in a position to increase the amount of money flowing through our game. Personally, I believe the problem lies with having too many clubs. The standard of Super League is declining. The IN's/OUT's thread on the VT is depressing. We're not a better competition for having more clubs we're far worse off. Our players play more games, which stunts our chances at international level. We have a small talent pool of players so the level of competition varies quite erratically and games drop in intensity. Also the spread of money is dried up between 14 teams, which is absolutely ridiculous. Make the competition 12 teams, the bottom two drop out to the Championship, more money/talent is spread across each of the clubs and coupled with the franchises (which is one of the RFL's better ideas) we could see things pick up.

I also think the salary cap should rise with inflation and that up to five homegrown players should be exempt from the salary cap. Also any player that has played ten years for one club would have their wages exempt from the salary cap - not half. I would also up the £50K given to players outside the top 25 earners to encourage clubs to spend on homegrown players and also to deter players like Ian Thornley from Rugby Union when at an early age.

Are my answers perfect? Of course not, but that's how I would go about things. It's very easy to point out a problem - solving it is a different matter. Whatever people's opinions are we must surely do something to stop the growing trend of elite players leaving our sport. Sitting back and saying "we'll find a replacement", "we did this to Rugby Union", "we can't afford it" is just nonsense. We can't afford to keep losing players like Graham, Eastmond, Tomkins, Burgess etc Our competition suffers for it. We struggle for top draw players as it is. Where would it end? Will Sam Tomkins stay while his brother is lapping it up in Union? Josh Charnley? Tom Briscoe? Ben Jones Bishop?

But hey, who gives one. As long as Wigan are a little weaker next season.

Although he did come up with that hugely successful name "BlueSox".

All admirable traits admittedly, but is he a visionary? Does he have the forsight, the intuition, the creativity to drive RL to new heights?

I'm not trying to pick on Richard Lewis here. Although I can't help but wonder how 'someone' has made a vastly inferior product in Rugby Union the game it is and yet despite having the much better product our game will be lucky to draw 40k for Wembley in what will be a mediocre International competition in comparison to the Rugby Union World Cup.

The next Simon Haughton is leaving the building.

Everyone keeps saying the Yawnion is an inferior product, and I quite agree. However, if you speak with Rah Rah fans, they claim League to be boring because of the lack of contested scrums, no mauling etc. Therefore is it really a case of simply better marketing?

I dare say the Union brass see him as some kind of English Sonny Bill.

It boils down to emphasising different skills. Yawnion has always been a forward-dominated game, especially in England, and the game revolves almost exclusively around set pieces and kicks. When rah-rah's talk about League players being unskillful, they're actually referring to scrummaging and winning line-outs as a skill. Seriously. Passing and catching a ball doesn't come into it for them

Isn't likes of Burgess, Ellis and Graham going to NRL good for our game? Year after year when we get bummed by the Aussies its said we need more players of there standard, if you including the 3 above along with the ones with English mums etc we have around 6 NRL players in the England team which has to be a good thing?

I think the point is if the best players leave our competition then wherever they go be it the NRL or RU the domestic competition is weakened by it. I think that is correct.

We can't send all our players to the NRL so it will only be a minority who benefit and in the meantime players like Prescott here no longer have to face top players like Graham. I think it has always been false logic to wish for our players to go the the NRL because this will benefit our game. It won't. It might mean we do better in the odd international but it won't raise the standard here because the game is weaker not stronger. If they come back at all it will be at the end of their careers so they are no better to us then than any other NRL player looking for a couple of seasons before retirement.

This. With knobs on.

Post of the year,without a doubt.



If our players go anywhere I hope it's the NRL which is the lesser of two evils.

Or even better, the RFL wake up and look for ways to compete with both rival competitions regarding player salaries. Otherwise we are doomed to being a feeder competition for the NRL and Union. Mind you, some of the posters on these boards will be happy about that as long as the top players are 'testing themselves at the highest level'.

Didnt Wigan nearly become a Union team once upon a time?

Maybe they should have done they'd be a force to be reckoned with by now if all these players came through as Union players and we had the money in the cap to keep them. (Ha not really!)

Trouble is; all the Union teams are spending beyond their means according to the Sale Sharks owner. So, as much as I hate the salary cap, it keeps our game going because eventually their sport may implode but still tbh I'd rather have away with it.

The RFL are more interested in letting the rubbish teams try and keep up than letting the great teams produce great talent and keep it to make our beautiful game the greatest game. With the RFL in charge the sport will stagnate and I don't think it will exist, certainly not professionally within about 15 years.

Our international game would develop if we didn't lose players to union. Imagine Ashton playing for England now. Theres no doubt in my mind that if our sport had the money and a decent international game then he wouldnt have left and neither would most of the others except Andy Farrell (Extended his career by a few years and made him more money dont blame him for that). Union is ONLY an international game, I'll admit the internationals are good I enjoy them but their league competitions are abysmal.

Exactly. The idea its OK if Sam swans off to the NRL because it is not RU before his contract is up baffles me.

According to that Kelly o donnell bird

who works for local radio she asked Shaun Wane if Joel would be at Wigan next season and he said "He was at my house yesterday. I dont know of any team hes gonna go to"

Read into that what you will

If he leaves he is dead to me. He had the chance to be part of a dynasty but he chose the money. As much of a disgrace to Wigan as Chris Ashton. Dont come back if true Joel.

wow

Over reaction of the century!!!


and as for kelly O'Donnell

indeed

Thinking about it though I dont think Joel will be going if Sam isn't theres no way that Joel is going to miss out on the fact that him, sam and logan can be the first set of 3 brothers to play in the same team in SL (correct me if Im wrong but I cant think of any other) Id of thought hed stay at least a year or 2 so that can happen but who would blame him?

If someone came to me and said "you can do another job its a slight bit different but the basics are the same as you do now but we will pay you twice as much" I'd go running and so would anyone on here. Hell if I was a professional RL player and Wigan offered me a 25k contract and Wire/Saints a 50k I'd go. In the short career of a professional sportsman you must make the most of your career and earn all you can.

he's gone. simple

has it been stated as a fact that he has gone?

I'd trust shaun wane over anyone, if joel was round his house yesterday and he doens't know hes leaving, hes not leaving.

Until something is confirmed officially joel is a wigan player and the words out of the camp today suggest that these stories are nothing but rumours.

Its a strange rumour though because usually they are only from the agents trying to get more money but we have him tied into a long contract so it cant be that. Odd one indeed. Maybe hes said he will go when his contract is up or something I dont know. I dont want him to go but if he doesnt want to be in Wigans team then theres no point having him because a player who is forced to play for you wont perform.