So Cas are set to go to court. They have said they're prepared to pay up to £100,000 on the case, which sounds like a lot in RL terms. But given that this high profile case is expected to go on for 7 days, I doubt that that money actually goes very far? This is a huge case for RL, and it could have terrible repercussions for the game if Cas lost. So my question is this, should the RFL help subsidise the Cas legal case to help put them in the best possible position to win? www.skysports.com/rugby-union/ne ... -for-trial

So Cas are set to go to court. They have said they're prepared to pay up to £100,000 on the case, which sounds like a lot in RL terms. But given that this high profile case is expected to go on for 7 days, I doubt that that money actually goes very far? This is a huge case for RL, and it could have terrible repercussions for the game if Cas lost. So my question is this, should the RFL help subsidise the Cas legal case to help put them in the best possible position to win? www.skysports.com/rugby-union/ne ... -for-trial

If the RFL decided to back Cas it might prompt the RFU to back Sale, so that's not a fight they'd win given their respective bank balances (in my estimation).

Its unfortunate timing too, hopefully it won't distract from Cas' onfield performance, whilst Sale have just about finished their campaign.

As of a couple of months back we had paid £65,000 in legal fees so i dread to think how far that figure will rise to in thr end. Also, despite the rfl saying in the public domain that they were prepared to back us fully, they have not made an offer of any financial assistance. This looks like being a fight for RL undertaken by us and us alone.

Well they can ask the court to cap costs.
Might not work, but as it is a bit of a landmark case the judge might agree to it

It's not listed until Nov/Dec, in the RL off season and bang in the middle of the RU one.

I would say yes to the RFL backing CAS regardless what the RFU might do or not, This is our sport and the integrity of Players contracts must be abide to so its a YES from me.

Up the Trin

Although I have little faith in British "justice" simply throwing more money in doesn't guarantee buying a result. If Cas win, and they seem pretty confident with the evidence they have, then they should get all their legal costs back so let them carry on as they are for now. If they do suffer when the verdict comes then yes the RFL and the other clubs should rally round. Meanwhile Cas have my and hopefully all RL fans support on this.

As for the RFL I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now as they may be waiting for the court verdict but Andy Clarke needs a lifetime ban from all involvement with the game, no excuses for this grubby leech.

Good luck to Cas in this one.

Cas certainly seem to be "in the right" with this one.
However, the legal system usually swings on the quality of your legal team and I just hope that Cas have some very deep pockets, to cover their legal bill.
For Sale to stick this one out, they must either be confident or stupid and I'm sorry to say that, I would back Union's credentials if/when it comes to court.
Union is close to the establishment and they will have friends in high places.
I know it shouldn't work that way but, this could get very, very, messy.

Given that the case will establish a precedent about whether any given RL player can "retire" from league one day and join a union club the next day, thereby materially damaging our sport, I'd be entirely happy with the RFL helping Cas with legal costs.

This case transcends any partisan feelings (though in any case we appear largely united on this one). We collectively need Sale and Solomona to be found to be wrong in a court of law. An out of court settlement would be of limited help in that respect.

Yes, good call but, we will still get down to how deep "our" pockets are, in relation to Sale and potentially The RFU (depending whether they feel thet RL has any other "easy pickings"icon_wink.gif.

This



plus Solomona has already tried to throw money at this case by wanting to bring a expert psychiatrist to testify at a trial to back up his claim that he was suffering from depression at the time and the way Cas treated him forced him to retire. The Judge refused to allow this expert to give evidence saying medical records should be evidence enough.

What if cas lose though?

Yes, but the majority of preparations will be done between now & Nov.

They are just scum, aren't they?



I hope Cas take them to the cleaners.

Why are they scum? For pinching another codes best players?

Regards

King James

Scum? Not a word I'd use but there's an argument they induced him to break his contract, added to that by his own admission he'd be regarded as a vulnerable person due to his mental health /ill health.

So lets put that another way...I know somebody is vulnerable, I induce and encourage them to break that contract as I know it will benefit me personally. My actions are challenged and I intend to defend the fact I've possibly exploited that vulnerable person.

Seems to be one possible summary of events.

It's not what they did, it's how they went about it. I'm sure that's been clear from the start.

Its no longer about Sale and Cas, its RU v RL, there's no getting away from it, if our game loses it we're f*****.
We and the RFL all have to support Cas no matter what, this thing is not a complicated issue and I can't believe it is beyond the means of the game to defend and protect its interests.
All the posturing and pontification that is going on now in all likely hood, is related to minimizing the level of compensation awarded to Cas I hope.
How long before we start seeing retirement "clauses" written in to contracts that prevent this kind of garbage being an issue in the future.

Seems to me an odd thing that somebody can retire from a job with 'rugby' in its title but then take up another with the word 'rugby' in the title. Surely on that basis alone it was a sham?

Then the sport as a whole is screwed. Means that players can up and leave whenever they like - this is why the RFL needs to put funds behind it instead of having us fight their battle.

His newest spin is that he was depressed and Castleford did nothing about it - given our heavy integration with State of Mind and that our Chairman has been quite vocal about his experience with mental health issues, I highly doubt it

Surely the fact that Solomona/Sale seem to change their story every five minutes isn't helping their cause. Hope not, anyway.

And of course the RFL and the sport as a whole should back Cas to the hilt.

Given that part of Monday's – I assume case management - hearing appears to have included Solomona's lawyer arguing that he should be able to call a consultant psychiatrist as a witness when it comes to trial and the judge ruling against that because medical records would be enough to show up any history of depression …