Bennett did the same when mentoring Kearney and the Kiwis prior to, and during the entirety of the RLWC08. The only non-NRL Kiwi based in SL who secured a place in their World Cup squad was Thomas Leuluai IIRC.

I'd be surprised if Bennett didn't select every NRL-based English player available to him first and foremost, prior to checking out and selecting SL-based players on the basis of damage limitation criteria.

Since the economic downturn clubs have been even less likely to raise the cap. That seems to be continuing until some miracle occurs when SL clubs suddenly have money to spend.

This is already having an influence on SL and will be even worse in a few years when we reap the disadvantages of downsizing junior development and putting 19 years olds on the scrapheap.

The problem is a lack of money in the game. Don't ask me where it comes from. We got bailed out in 95 but it won't happen again.

First of all, i don't know what anyone at the club is paid, neither do you, neither does anybody else on this forum. But if you think the likes of McGuire, Sinfield, Hall, Peacock, Burrow, Watkins, Hardaker and other established internationals have all stayed at and continue to stay at Leeds for as you put it 'sod all' then it is you who are living cuckoo land. I suppose Ferres chose the chicken feed GH offered him over the big, easy money he could have earned at Salford or Hull or whoever else too. Yes, i do believe the club culture thing would be a factor but not that big i wouldn't try make it out to be but it is there the players have stated that themselves.And if the gap between what they were/are earning was so big between other top earners and them in the league, i'm sure there would have been a few moving for more money they would be daft not to, its a short career.

Secondly, i have stated before on here down the years i wouldn't mind or begrudge any of our top players taking up the challenge of NRL.For me, Watkins should if he wants to reach his full potential but it looks like he never will now.Same went for Hall and even Hardaker. I really have no club agenda whatsoever and do want SL to thrive and our international game.I just think your pathetic dismissal of Leeds' achievements over the last decade come across as desperate, as if this is your chance to stick the boot in after all those years of being put in back in your Box after Leeds continual season turnarounds, i see you are hedging your bets this year by stating elsewhere we will still make the top 4, Don't worry William i think like Wire this year is finally your year

it amazes me the cognitive dissonance that accepts this league has a problem in terms of profile and quality, yet one that readily accepts and in some cases supports its best players moving to RU or the NRL.

Our problems in terms of quality and profile are almost entirely down to the increase in quality of player leaving, and the decrease in quality of the players coming in.


Saying that, i think the idea that a significant amount of Leeds spine would have gone elsewhere in SL if we didnt have a cap would be pretty unlikely

I don't have a problem with players who choose to leave SL and play in the NRL - they crucially remain available for England/GB selection while doing so. Josh Hodgson (an average SL player, IMO) leads the count in the Dally M after the opening four rounds and to hear the Australian media (via Premier Sports) discussing who is currently the best forward in the world and it boiling down to a choice between Sam Burgess and James Graham simply would not have happened otherwise. They were good players in SL (without needing to be 100% of the time) but just like Morley and Ellis before them they have made their mark on the game and gained recognition not on offer to players who (if given the opportunity) opt to stay in SL.

GB last won an Ashes series in 1970 and I was fortunate to be around back then to hear about it - another one would be nice but without access to the NRL it's only seemingley going to get further away. New Zealand became a credible force (and better than that won things) on the International stage through access to the NRL.

How and whether the RFL and SL are able to capitalise on a credible International side (should one emerge capable of defeating the Aussies and Kiwis) is doubtful but that's always been the case.

Any player who leaves for RU's gold is of no interest to me.

Josh Hodgson has improved out of sight in the NRL, because he's had the right attitude to take advantage of the coaching and development there. There was an interview pre-season with him about Elliott Whitehead and all the things he'd have to do to succeed in the NRL that laid bare the differences in training and preparation between the two leagues. Some (Hodgson, Cooper) seem to thrive on it, some (Scott Moore, Sam Tomkins) don't.

Burgess and Graham meanwhile would be among the top players in the world whichever league they were playing in, and they were when they were in SL. It's less and less likely that players like that will stay in SL though. Will be interesting to see what Alex Walmsley and Chris Hill do over the next few years if they're passed over for IMO less able players T.Burgess and Cooper for international selection.

do you long for us signing an endless stream of players as in the post john Holmes apocalypse and winning absolutely naff all for 15 years. Gb still could not beat the Aussies and the game was effectively broke. There was a lot more money for players back then, I know a guy who signed at Wigan as a kid for £50k over 20 years ago. Now in the academy system they get a tracksuit.
when taking inflation into account there is less money going to players now. The key is growing the game and getting bigger sponsors in etc etc. the salary cap came into save the game. There is not the coin in the sport to compete with NRL dollar for dollar

Agreed but would there have been any acknowledgement from the Aussies had they remained in SL nevermind the media discussing which was the current best forward in the game. I don't think there would have been and I can understand why.



It will. Think Walmsley might be found wanting, one decent shot he took from the Roosters and he disappeared from the fray. The tackle that Inu was sin-binned for and subsequently banned for over here the other week was replicated in two NRL games in round 4, neither even attracted a penalty and at least one made it onto the NRL Fulltime highlight package.

It will be interesting if Bennett follows McNamara's lead and we see some more NRL players suddenly turn up their granddad's birth certificate to play for England.

It'd be nice if Milford or Mbye find out they've got roots in Whitehaven.

We'll never know, though if the salary cap hadn't been in force for the past decade and beyond, there would have been a transfer market between the top SL clubs. Under such circumstances, it's entirely possible that Tony Smith for example (armed with a wad of cash from Simon Moran) may have made the likes of Sinfield and McGuire offers they could not refuse.

An entirely NRL-based England team could well take to the field within a few years IMO.

I dont think that at the point Smith joined Wire, that Wire would have offered them a package that Leeds couldnt match and that would tempt McGuire or Sinfield.

I dont think once we got Peacock he would have left. Boyhood Leeds fan, winning trophies. Im not sure he would have wanted to spend his 'bonus' years elsewhere. Whether the issue with Bradford that led to his leaving would still have occurred is another question.

Burrow fit leeds, whether he would have been as valuable to another side is unlikely. But perhaps.

JJB would play for Leeds for free

We would probably have seen the likes of Smith Webb Donald maybe ablett, Ali would probably have gone earlier, Senior too.

The counterpoint from that for Leeds is we likely wouldnt have seen some of the 'filler' signings we saw, The Millards, Crosses, O'neils, probably would be getting better than Galloway (who isnt terrible) Garbutt etc this year.

It's also entirely possible that without a salary cap we would have 3 clubs left in the league.

Why would any of our rivals have wanted our players? You been telling us for years that they're rubbish. If you're saying Leeds benefitted most from the salary cap by not losing their best players then that must mean Leeds had more top players to lose, hence effectively saying Leeds won their GF's because they had the best players.

A nice cul-de-sac you've driven yourself into there William.

the thing is, it isnt really, there would be an equilibrium found.

id also argue that if we want regulations to stop a team buying all the best talent, we can do so far more precisely and better than the variable and more subjective financial aspect.

You also have to remember that the SC doesnt actually reflect affordability. One thing we learned from franchising is that some SL clubs, like Salford, Like Wakefield were struggling to hit £4m turnover, where as leeds and Les Catalans are up around £10m. If it is 'affordable' for Wakefield to be looking at spending £1.8m of £4m it is affordable for Leeds to be spending £3.6m of £10m. That would probably be more than any RL club in the world is spending on Wages.

As we see from the WCS Nrl clubs are building squads on another level from what SL clubs are building, which would comfortably win SL, on £500k, or nearly a million AUSD less than what the SC deems leeds could 'afford'.

Very likely given the exodus of players - it does represent our best chance of being able to beat them on a regular basis

Many clubs had to sell their grounds to pay of huge debts accrued during the lavish spending era of the 80's and 90's. That was a one time deal, they have no assets left and in future would rely entirely on the generosity of a multi millionaire donor. Frankly I'd rather the sport lived within it's means and multi millionaire's gave their money to cancer charities.

Obviously Leeds being such a poverty club, wouldn't have been able to compete with these huge offers coming in from rich clubs like.......warrington and errr....

There's just as much an argument that the salary cap held Leeds back. All those years when we had the likes of burrow mcguire and sinfield in their prime and some of the signings included the likes of ian kirke, jamie thackray, richard moore. Without the cap we could have tempted some doozies over from the NRL with a wod of cash and won even more.

It's all about where you can take the discussion, your agenda. Lack of transfers topic can lead onto discussing about the salary which can lead onto super duper league-BAD, before super league-GOOD.

Forced austerity - it's a couple of words that are going to be ramned down people's throats on this board if you have the inclination to read through it.

So would I. The club with all the success over the 80s & 90s paid a heavy price indeed.

Multi Millionaires like Marwan are used to fixing things with cash quickly. That doesn't work.

The thing is, it does work, thats why Multi-millionaires are multi-millionaires. Because they look at how they can invest and turn things round. Not expect to fix things slowly without investment.

Its not your money to A) give away or B) to reject on behalf of the players.

Its pretty easy to be lovely and altruistic when its not your money you are paying out nor doing without.

and it also hugely devalues and mitigates the benefits of us beating them on a regular basis.

It's abit of both. You don't become a multi millionaire from business exploits without knowing how to wisely use your money and get the biggest return. Most successful business were built over a long period of time, the same can go for sports teams. Teams that have a sustained period of success normally go through a building period beforehand. The problem is when these business millionaires come in and think they can just sign loads of players and have immediate success, they think it's easy and ignore other factors, failing to apply the principles that made them the money.

Higham signed technically for Wigan from bradford