Thomas Leuluai!

[The Eclipse]

This is NOT good news. It undermines the whole idea of getting more genuinely home grown players into teams.

One day the penny will drop that RL will never be a truly top class sport until it gets the International side of the game sorted out and it won't do that until GB are competitive and with players of TL's standard occupying key half back slots that won't happen.

If he wants to play for NZ he should be treated as a foreign player, end of. Same goes for Hansen who did qualify as home grown under the orignal meaning of the rules.

This is all down to Hood of Bradford putting club before county (Not the first time Bradford have done this) for one player who in a few years will be forgotten.

It's just so typical of the small minded people we have running the game.

Dave

You are 100% correct, this is awful news.

[Lil Feka's Dad]

Agreed.

More French in Cats team than English in Wigan's and more Brits in the Quins than Brits at Wigan:conf:

Oh here we go again….does it really matter?

Which would you prefer, a Wigan team with 17 English players rooted at the bottom of the table, or a Wigan team with 17 players from anywhere in the world winning the CC, League Leaders Shield and the Grand Final, spanking St Helen’s 75 – 0 on each occasion?

Who said anything about 17 Wigan players? Not me. I love the fact we have had some great foreign players at Wigan but for quite a few years now we have had far too many overseas players in the league as a whole and most of them are not that good.

In fact TL is a good example (he is not the next Gregory or Edwards) and this rule change means more players of his standard can play here.

Ok, maybe there are two extremes here, but if Wigan are doing well does it really matter where the players come from?

Absolutely. Have you ever been to an International v Australia? Unbelievable when we are competitive.

But that is not the issue really. It's all about giving players like Hock a reason to stay in RL rather than later on "do a Farrell" and leave for RU.

With an International game even half as recognised as RU's Wigan would benefit by not having the likes of Farrell switch codes. If we are not competitive internationally Ashton won't be the last young player to leave the club.

Dave

I have to disagree.

Did Farrell leave to join a successful International side? Look at the RU results for the last 5 years and you'll see that the answer is no.

Does he earn far more money now, playing a softer game that's easier on his body. Yes.

It's the salary cap which is limiting the development of young players, limiting the earning capacity of the top players, and limiting the development of the game in general.

[DaveO]

I have to disagree.

Did Farrell leave to join a successful International side? Look at the RU results for the last 5 years and you'll see that the answer is no.

The success of England right now has nothing to do with it. It's about recognition, playing in competitions like the RU world cup and 6 nations.

In any case England won't be poor forever.

Does he earn far more money now, playing a softer game that's easier on his body. Yes.

It's not just about him and what he is doing but about all players and what they may want to do. One of the reasons he earns more is because there is more money in the game and the biggest reason there is more money in RU is the International set up. A player who gets in on the England set up benefits from even higher wages than a normal club RU player.

It's the salary cap which is limiting the development of young players, limiting the earning capacity of the top players, and limiting the development of the game in general.

The salary cap in RU has gone up and a reason why it has is the money made available to clubs from the inherent financial strength of the the sport which comes from the International game.

In terms of holding young players back I think I am right in saying the majority of half backs in SL are from overseas and with Long and Briers now retired from the International game, I am blowed if I know who England would pick as scrum half if Burrow was injured.

In certain positions we have struggled to find GB or England qualified players to make a team up. Wing and half back being the two best examples.

A couple of seasons ago Wakefield put out 17 foreign players in their relegation decider with Cas. Hull have had 10 overseas players on the books, Bradford a similar number and we have never had as many as we do now. The old rules allowed that to happen and the fact it did shows clubs will go for the quick fix of cheap overseas imports of a not particularly high standard rather than grow their own and when they sign them, they player them. Phelps being a good example here. The new rules were supposed to prevent that sort of thing but Hood picking them apart for the sake of yet another average overseas import is a joke.

I think I am right in saying the player in question was born here but grew up and learned the game in Austria. So under the new rules he isn't Home Grown or Federation trained, i.e. an overseas player. Hood argued the fact that he was effectively British that this was an anomaly and wrong.

Whether that is true is one question but how Hood getting his player particular "off quota" means TL can come off quota baffles me. He certainly wasn't born here, he didn't come through any UK clubs academy (or he would qualify already like Hansen does) and he is an NZ International! How on earth that gets you off quota I don't know but it certainly shows the side effect of Hood's meddling is going to allow clubs to get around the intent of the rules and continue to have too many overseas players on the books as they have done in the past.

Dave

[shawcross da warrior]

leuluai...

beautiful british name...

[butt monkey]

leuluai...

beautiful british name...

I'd have rather had James, now he in his hey-day was class!