Re: Rushton
Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2020 9:08 pm
The lure of the NRL was always going to be hard to resist. Even if Super League had equal financial strength to the NRL we would lose players due to the quality of life players can experience over there. The fact that there's a considerable gulf in finances too means Super League is at a real disadvantage. We just have to hope that there's a limit to how many players the NRL clubs will take.
Wigan seem to be the club that is worst hit by raids from the NRL but its likely that the club is a victim of its own success. While the Australian RL media seem rather ignorant to Super League the NRL scouts aren't. They keep tabs on academy players and have done for a long time. It's no surprise that when scouting the best British talent that a lot of those players will be at Wigan given our success at academy. We also have a great record of bringing through young players from the academy into the first team where they have instant success. Players that scouts were tracking as teenagers who then make a name for themselves quickly in Super League are bound to attract strong interest from the NRL. That would include players like Williams, Sutton, Burgess. Even the likes of Mossop before that. NRL scouts will also be after the top Super League stars in general and quite a few of those have been Wigan players too.
Add to that the fact that the likes of Williams, Sutton, Burgess, Bateman, Tomkins, Sarginson etc won trophies at a relatively young age and the urge to move on to the next challenge will get stronger. And being at a relatively young age they aren't as likely to have settled down with families in which case there's an argument for getting out there while you have the opportunity as it might not come around again. I believe Joe Burgess cited that as one of his main reasons for going to the NRL.
And then of course in Harry Rushton's case, he's presented with a life changing opportunity by an NRL club. Previously that may have seemed like a daunting task for an 18 year old and we may have stood a better chance of holding on to him, but having Williams and Sutton at Canberra will surely make the switch a lot easier. There's also the fact that Rushton is competing with the likes of Farrell, Isa, Smithies, Partington, Havard, Wells, Shorrocks, Pearce-Paul and McDonnell for back row/loose forward positions in the squad. In that respect our strong academy may have counted against us, as there's not a guarantee of first team games in the next couple of years which may have been something that could tempt him to stay.
Ultimately all that Wigan can do is try to tie down our best players to long contracts so that we at least get fees for them, keep giving young players opportunities so there's incentive to stay and fight for Super League titles and try to ensure that if they do come back we can bring them back here rather than lose them to our rivals.
Wigan seem to be the club that is worst hit by raids from the NRL but its likely that the club is a victim of its own success. While the Australian RL media seem rather ignorant to Super League the NRL scouts aren't. They keep tabs on academy players and have done for a long time. It's no surprise that when scouting the best British talent that a lot of those players will be at Wigan given our success at academy. We also have a great record of bringing through young players from the academy into the first team where they have instant success. Players that scouts were tracking as teenagers who then make a name for themselves quickly in Super League are bound to attract strong interest from the NRL. That would include players like Williams, Sutton, Burgess. Even the likes of Mossop before that. NRL scouts will also be after the top Super League stars in general and quite a few of those have been Wigan players too.
Add to that the fact that the likes of Williams, Sutton, Burgess, Bateman, Tomkins, Sarginson etc won trophies at a relatively young age and the urge to move on to the next challenge will get stronger. And being at a relatively young age they aren't as likely to have settled down with families in which case there's an argument for getting out there while you have the opportunity as it might not come around again. I believe Joe Burgess cited that as one of his main reasons for going to the NRL.
And then of course in Harry Rushton's case, he's presented with a life changing opportunity by an NRL club. Previously that may have seemed like a daunting task for an 18 year old and we may have stood a better chance of holding on to him, but having Williams and Sutton at Canberra will surely make the switch a lot easier. There's also the fact that Rushton is competing with the likes of Farrell, Isa, Smithies, Partington, Havard, Wells, Shorrocks, Pearce-Paul and McDonnell for back row/loose forward positions in the squad. In that respect our strong academy may have counted against us, as there's not a guarantee of first team games in the next couple of years which may have been something that could tempt him to stay.
Ultimately all that Wigan can do is try to tie down our best players to long contracts so that we at least get fees for them, keep giving young players opportunities so there's incentive to stay and fight for Super League titles and try to ensure that if they do come back we can bring them back here rather than lose them to our rivals.