lots of talk over here about one of our clubs signing the current wallaby halfback

weve not signed a wallaby since 1995 because of the wages difference in favour of union

an option has been to make union/AFL players exempt from the salary cap

would this be a good option for both the nrl and SL?

in the past RL used to sign some fantastic players from RU over to SL clubs.

No because it would undermine the whole process of the salary cap and attempts to even up the competition. Would you want Melbourne to go out and buy Folau and Karmichael Hunt and a couple of other ''RL'' converts or a couple of RU players so that they can dominate again.

I think it would be an option in the future but would need to be limited to one per club etc.

I would much rather see a position whereby hometown players are exempt but again that would have to be a bit further down the road certainly in the UK.

maybe for 1 year

If the RU/AFL player is going to be paid a salary, then No.

I see where you are coming from Dally. I like what Spud said that maybe for one year they don't count. This gets them back to the superior code. This should come with a contract that says the player must get into the 'public eye' for free for marketing purposes whenever the club or NRL/SLE want them to.

yeah one per club, it would need to be limited

if it means hunt or folau are back in league id be happy.

it would have to be their first rugby league contract, one year wouldnt be enough to swing it

which player is gonna be happy to take a wage cut after his first year though?

I would love Quins to convert the clubs union supporters.

i think one per club would be a good move 9even though my own club wouldnt benefit) as we can start signing more top union talent rather than the other way round.

One per club is fair enough. Teams like Quins, Cats and Crusaders would benefit greatly from this. If somehow this were brought in I reckon Wigan would be straight in for fat face Ashton too. By the way, why does that happen when you play union, you suddenly put on 2 stone and get rosey chubby cheeks?

Its all the port, grouse and caviar.............served to you by your northern butler.

I'd say 100% yes.

Jonathon Davies, Tuigamla, Botica, Gibbs, Quinell. The situation at present as regards a national presence, is worse than it's ever been. RL in general need the exposure that top name signings would bring.

I understand the reasons behind the salary cap, spreading talent, keeping the books clean but the fact remains that as in the pre cap era, most trophys are won by one of 4 teams. The best the rest can expect, is a place in the play offs.

We should probably try and if we succeed it can only give the game(in UK) the publicity that we need to expose our product to the wider public so basically yes let's go for it.

no...the first year of said union player's contract would'nt be included in the salary cap..but years 2,3 etc would meaning the team would have to balance their salary budget to accommodate him...

Quick question. This benefits youth development how exactly...?

yes, remember the Welsh RL team of the 90's, it was competitive and drew a crowd, why? Because of RU converts. If we want a better Int competition then we need to be strengthening the UK (&Irelnad) teams and France, RL isn't producing the amount or quality of jnrs so lets convert the best RU players to help out.

If clubs can afford it then why not?

In terms of NRL, again I say yes as long as they are pacific Islanders, PNG or South Africans.

Wouldn't this just be abused in a similar way to quotas e.g. Sam Tomkins goes to Orrell, Danny McGuire goes to Carnegie, 5 minutes later say they don't like it and want to return, bingo on the salary cap.

Or what if Union approach a player, e.g. Eastmond at Saints, should Saints then be able to exempt him to stop him changing codes ?

Instead of them just being exempt to the cap, why not have them on central contracts to the RFL as well?

This would mean that RU players wouldn't become the new Kolpacs as the RFL could but sanctions on what players from RU could be signed to these contacts eg x number of international appearances and things of that nature. We'd therefore get better players crossing codes AND be able to compete with the money of RU

Well wasn't this already done back in 2000 or so? I'm sure there was a story about certain RL's having their wages subsidized by the RFL so they wouldn't switch codes

For a couple of players, (and not a great return on Cunningham for GB caps) don't know how if fitted with the salary cap though. Maybe every club should be allowed a joker, one player exempt from the salary cap. It may favour the clubs with more money but stop the best players from switching codes or attract major talent from the NRL or union.

Would also add, in regarding abusing the system, you simply put in a rule that says that a convert who has played RL cannot become salary cap exempt unless his initial switch was over 3 years ago.

i still think that points system being proposed in Aus is the way to go, it is the most transparent system, and would allow exemptions like this without the potential to have the system abused

Could you give us some more info about this point system smokey?

thanks in advance.

Players are given a set number of points depending on experience, rep status, quality etc. A team can only field a 17 that are worth a certain number of total points. The downside to the system is that A) it is somewhat subjective how many points a players value is B) Unless total points are allocated to a squad a team could stock pile decent players in case of injuries.