Did Wigan get any cash for Faz? Was he still on contract at the time? I think they got a decent wedge for him but can't be sure.

I know Ashton went for a fee.

Ashton ................! the name rings a bell but i just can not place it

I seem to recall figures around £1m being bandied about at the time, some from Saracens and some from thr RFU. It was a great move finanically for both Farrell and Wigan.

Ashton went for free, they paid a fortune for Faz.

I thought he went for a load but couldnt be sure.

and ever since the RU have been pretty quite IMHO we are always gonna loose a couple to the other code but when its a player off Smiths calibur i think we can all sleep safely at night.

You not rate Smith?

id have him at BV but the impact is a lot more low key than when they were picking Ashton s of our sport . IMHO

Have a look at the debacle that was the England RL World Cup performance for your answer.

And we won how many cups when Wigan were top bringing in Miles, Kenny, Renouf, Bell etc etc

Utter rubish again there are more foreign players in the League than there have ever been, infact we had to introduce a new rule so as to bring down these numbers.

The cap is in place to stop clubs overspending and getting into financial difficulties which is why i agree with it.

Limiting it to the level it is though without linking it to a clubs turnover simple ensures that clubs who are commecially successfull are penalised and brought down to the level of those that are not.

So you dont want a level playing field then?

the game over here is absolutely junk, no skill, no flare just robots. unless you are involved at grass roots over a period to see how bad it is then you just dont know. the junior coaching is pathetic, too many coaches in it for themselves and not the players. the ones who move on to jobs in the rfl talk that much crap its unreal. absorbing, abstracting, too small at 12, wrong shape feet to play. the games run by morons, puppets and clones. john knows whats going on and i agree 100% with him apart from the skill in juniors side. my lad went down to a cross code rugby tag tourny at rugby school a couple of year ago and the skill level of the union kids was greater than the league boys and girls they could all catch and pass. garry schofield played in australia and played for gb by the time he was 19 whos as good as him. people want to stop burying their heads in the sand.

I'm sure I recall Wakey signing Ray Price and Wally Lewis.

Nobody minds top players over here.

Oh and we were a lot closer then than we are now.

Have a look at the Wales 95 team
Harris, Devereux, Bateman, Gibbs, Sullivan, Davies, Ellis, Young, Cunningham, Skerrett, Moriatey, Quennel and Eyres.

That was a better team than we sent to Australia in 2008.

Have look for the England team in 1995.

Then tell me the standard is higher today.

We're moving to the LOWEST common denominator.

No i want a clubs to compete and work to increase there ability to spend, ensuring that the more comercially successfull a team is and the more effort it puts in the more it should be rewarded with the ability to spend on its team.

If a club is able to spend on wages and afford it why should they not be allowed to.

Rather than raising standards why should some clubs be limited in improving themselves and play in a comp that does not reward them for being successfull off the field.

I am all for a cap but not in its current form.

OK!



So who do you blame and what can be done about it?

Seems to me that we need one body running this and that it would be best to bring Junior rugby in line with our professional game - i.e. summer, when the skills are easier to teach / practice / carry out?

Comunist countries are renound for there success and content peoples.

Are not all teams aiming for that?

Seems to me most clubs are putting the effort in to improve themselves, in the last 5-10 years i would say 95% of teams have seen an increase in attendances, merchandising etc

I think we all know that the performance of the England rugby league team in the World Cup was down to many things.

The same players that were unable to show their ability in Australia would normaly perform to a standard way in excess of anything the RU boys are capable of.

Lets not forget that the intensity of the Union games is significantly lower than that of any Pro league game. It's easier to produce when the defence you're facing isn't relentlesly pressurising you for the ful 80 mins.

There's also the fact that in Union the game has far more breaks in play so fatigue is less of a contributory factor in the quality of play.

In all the areas of commonality, Rugby Union is a long way behind.

It seems, as with most things in life now, everybody wants/expects instant changes and instant results.

Standards in skill and application in British RL have been slipping for over 30 years and correcting them is going to take time, a long time.

The salary cap and the emphasis on team's youth development, in terms of time, is only embryonic and must be given more time, but the seeds are there for all to see - at Belle Vue, Cas, Leeds, Hull, even Wigan. Let's just give it time and forget about the sugar-daddy clubs whimperings.

training in the winter for most junior teams is a nightmare no facilities, no lights in most places mud baths of fields and unmotivated players. move the junior game to summer. get away from the jobs for the boys. assess coaches at clubs when theyve passed their badges not just the 15 minutes to pass the course.not every junior can play sl but some can be good nl 1 or 2 players or play a good open age standard. weve got more people playing the game than ever before so its popularity is growing so why is the top level going backwards. coaching plain and simple

top post mopsey

It’s hardly an alarming rate of players that are going to union is it?

Let Lee Smith go if he wants, but I think he will stay at Leeds. Even if he does go it's not like he leaves a massive gap or anything to fill in the England squad.

Cracking post and absolutely right; however, more than a few people on this board, and others, need to lose the 'I'm alright Jack, eff you' attitude if RL is to consolidate its current position and grow again in the future.

The salary cap makes sense but not in it's current guise; it needs a review with the facility to reward clubs who grow their merchandising and fanbase, those that easily exceed development requirements etc. We all want a level playing field but it needs to be one that promotes organic growth.

shame hes going but I really dislike the guy see him back in a few years unfit and playing for someone like Cas.