Think about Sam's contract for a while.

Once a player signs a contract, no club is allowed to talk to the player (or 'tap up' as it's called) until the contract is up. So why was it announced that Sam couldn't talk to anyone for 3 years? The only logical answer is that Sam didn't want to sign a 5 year deal. As part of the negotiations IL offered a clause stating that after 3 years Sam has permission to seek employment elsewhere presumably with a previously agreed level of compensation.

What changed? A club came in for him. Providing they did it proporly and approached the club rather than Sam they are quite entitled to do that. IL is then put in the unenviable position of having to make a decision. As Sam was interested in the offer, which frankly, most players would be IL can either milk it for as much money as he can or potentially have an unhappy player who is allowed to leave next year anyway. I'd rather the club treat players proporly providing they deserve it. Those who don't deserve it can get farmed off on loan with a clause saying Thayer can't play against us.

In a salary capped sport I wonder why that should be the case though. We're a sports club not a business and making profits shouldn't really be a concern. It's nice to I suppose and you certainly don't want to be losing money but the most important thing is that the club is stable and we have success on the field.


If we're going to re-invest some of the money in signings fair do's but there aren't any rumours of us looking to do that. Along with the CC money, the Hock money and Mossops fee we'll have brought in a massive wedge this year. I appreciate we do spend a lot of our coaching set up and junior development but we'd have still made good money even if we'd held Tomkins to his contract.

It's a balancing act I suppose.

???

Maybe out of a BUSINESS PLAN that doesn't rely on windfalls from transfers?

Every Wigan Warrior player has a price you can not say the same for Leeds players. Its the owners that are the difference at both clubs. Both have average coaches and good sides. Difference is we are getting weaker and they are staying the same.

Its not our players that have a price its IL who has his price.

They're probably getting stronger with the emergence of lads like Sutcliffe who has the advantage of coming in to a strong and experienced side.

We produce as many and probably more young players then Leeds but with the way things are going they'll be coming in to a very inexperienced side that's getting weaker by the year. I could never criticise the job Lenagan has done and he goes down as a legend in my book but I do wonder if we'll get to a stage where he'll have taken us as far as he can.

We simply can't keep losing so many lads each year.

The lack of continuity is a big issue i agree.

Leeds have been lucky in that regard, the big NRL bucks were not around when their spine was younger, now they are older and past the time where clubs in the NRL would want them. This "Hetherington stand up to the NRL" is not entirely accurate, he does not have anything they want. Lets see how they cope as the youngsters start to come through.

Continuity is important, and i think Leeds have been freakishly lucky in that respect.

If i was a NRL club i'd certainly be looking at Hall and Watkins, possibly Hardaker too.

They are but the biggest difference is that Leeds will let a players contract run out and get the best out of them rather than sell them. Maybe it will change with time. But up to now none have gone of the 3. Hall will be the big NRL target next season especially if he plays well in the 2013 WC.

Reported in the League Express or League Weekly last Monday in a poll by the players union over 70% of players said they would consider a move to Australia od to Rugby Union.

Any idea how many players completed the poll?

Around half the players polled replied, I've seen it said.

Who wouldn't want to work for considerably more money and in a country with a better environment?
Having followed this as most of us here have, it seems to have started with Dean Bell's visit over here some months ago. If he suggested to Sam what he could earn with NZW without having made an official offer and Sam's head was turned then there's not too much IL could do about it. Either go along with it and get the maximum compensation (transfer fee) he could or, tell Sam he was going nowhere and have his most highly paid player a disgruntled player on his hands for the next three years.
I do think option 1 is the only one, which leaves us where we are now.
We all know what should be done with marquee player allowance but that had been firmly knocked on the head.
This leaves us wondering who will go next and what to do about it.

Are people surprised that players would want to move to Australia or something? I'm surprised it's not more like 90% + of players asked

Absolutely.

But by the same token IL should have kept his gob shut when signing Sam instead of parading him around like it was the most astute business deal in the world.

He took the glory for the signing, now he must take the flak.

Personally he should have received neither imo.

Why wouldn't they ? All three are the best players in superleague in there current positions, add Steve ward to that list as future England captain.

Just seen it on Oz website Zerotackle Sam has signed for NZ Warriors $750,000 a season good luck to him

This poll wasn't just a simple matter of "would you like to earn more money" and it wasn't just aimed at those players who might actually interest NRL clubs but al of them few of whom actually have a chance of interesting NRl clubs. To me that means the results are more disturbing. Here are some quotes and a link:

AN AMAZING three-quarters of Super League players admit they are thinking of quitting the competition.

And more than a third say they have struggled so badly with depression that it has affected their career.

The shock results are revealed in the first-ever poll of players, carried out by Rugby League World and 1eague3.

Jon Wilkin, who is the chairman of players’ association 1eague3, believes they are revelations that the game needs to wise up to quickly.

The St Helens and England forward said: “I found some of the results really surprising. They certainly weren’t what some of my preconceived ideas were.”

The game is in danger of being robbed of its stars because of big bucks offers from the NRL and rugby union. Both rival organisations can pay their players far more than Super League clubs, with several Brits already in Australia.

Wilkin added: “To have 75 per cent say that they have an interest in leaving the competition is very significant.

“There seems to be a lot of positive momentum towards leaving the game in this country and that’s something that we need to address.”

More than half of all Super League players took part in the poll, with the issue of depression being tackled for the first time. A staggering 34 per cent said they had dealt with depression, to the extent that it has impacted on their performances.

Former Great Britain hooker Terry Newton killed himself in 2010 and Brett Seymour attempted suicide earlier this year when he was a Hull player. News of the widespread depression problems in the game is a huge worry, says Wilkin.

He added: “To see that 34 per cent of the players that replied have had an issue with depression, and that it’s played a part in their professional career, was a shockingly high statistic.”

“One of the big issues for us is that players’ opinions have never really been taken seriously in the game”

Wilkin believes it is vital that action is now taken to listen to the players’ concerns before another tragedy happens.

He said: “One of the big issues for us is that players’ opinions have never really been taken seriously in the game.

“Individual players have been asked their opinion but they are usually the high-profile players who have had good careers.

“This survey gave us the opportunity to cover all bases and hear what young and old players alike think, whatever their profile is.”

The survey also revealed that a huge 97 per cent believe the sport isn’t marketed well enough.

[urlhttp://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/336690/New-poll-reveals-crisis-in-the-Super-League[/url

To me that reads worse than just high profile and the leagues better players thinking about a move to Oz but a lot of far more average players who would not get a game out there simply thinking of quitting the game.

Reading some of the posts on this board won't help lift anybodies spirits....

Depression is something that has to be dealt with throughout society - 34% doesn't surprise me as I'd say around 1/3 staff I've dealt with as a departmental manager in engineering over the past 2 decades have definite signs of depression - and having been made redundant myself 4 times in the last 4 years due to contracts being cancelled early by bean counters at utility co's/councils, it's amazingly easy for anyone to drop into a downward spiral when bills keep coming in.

As for the marketing - I know of one owner who bemoaned in public the fact that he (and others he talked to) could bring in a decent (£3m-£5m) sponsor tomorrow, but if he brings them to his club, he's not allowed to spend the money on players/salaries, and if he hands that sponsor to the RFL, they'll only waste the money propping up clubs that basically find it easier to cry poverty than put their own house in order ........

Non of what you say, on both issues, comes as any surprise.....

Not being funny but there were those of us who could see this happening a mile off.

DeanoG and I posted years ago that the effect of the CC (effectively a year on year pay CUT) coupled with the richer pickings offered elsewhere (contrary to the delusions of RL chairman, the sport does not exist in a bubble) would mean at the very least a "player drain". I remember the posts "Don't worry there will be someone else on the production line", "Don't be daft, not all people are driven by money", "it's only because Wigan are not winning anything" etc etc

I only wish I could feel smug about it.


Now those same people (presumably now accepting they were wrong but obviously not admiting it) lash out at other sports like little children who have been proven wrong. "RU wants to kill the game" LOL

Why on earth would RU want to kill off it's feeder sport? Do you really think it sees RL as a threat thesedays? Rather than kill the chicken, it would much rather keep it alive and eat the best eggs every now and again.

I don't pretend to know all the answers, but I do know one thing. Wigan RL have a fantastic brand, an amazing history and a very loyal and widespread fan base. However, we do not have a god-given right to be at the top of the sport. I remember when years of under investment and average signings led to the fan base drifting away and the club being relegated.

What turned this around? The "gang of 4" and their ambitious plans to sign marquee players, to attract the crowds and put Wigan back on top, i.e. the exact opposite of what seems to be happening at the moment.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Brett, if you look back you will find that i agreed with many of your posts when you were getting criticism with regard to your statements about the CC from others. Not all, but many.

Doesn't look as if anyone has posted this but apologies if so.

From Twitter yesterday:

Not posted here, but i had seen it...