And maybe goes 'ARRRR!!' a couple of times.

According to one reoprt I read Ashton was offered £70k by Wigan (a "massive" pay increase) but went to union for £140k.

I just cant see Eastmond making it in Union, he just doesnt seem suited to the game. What position will he play? Cant see him as a half back or centre. He'd probably settle in easily enough on the wing but more likely full back.

If he does go I expect he'll be back in RL after a couple of seasons having earned himself 5-6 seasons RL earnings in the meantime. Cant say I'd blame him really.

i cant imagine him not making it in union. it would be madness for him not to go.

loads more money
national recognition
potential big international games.

expect tomkins to follow shortly...as has already been said on here money talks.

Quote ="captaincaveman"expect tomkins to follow shortly...as has already been said on here money talks.'" Doubt it. Wigan have had the foresight to tie up both Tomkins brothers for the next five years. www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... &type=news In addition, they have signed up Liam Farrell & Josh Charnley for five years. www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... &type=news

Quote ="captaincaveman"expect tomkins to follow shortly...as has already been said on here money talks.'" Doubt it. Wigan have had the foresight to tie up both Tomkins brothers for the next five years. www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... &type=news In addition, they have signed up Liam Farrell & Josh Charnley for five years. www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... &type=news

How much will Ashton be on now though ? Double the original 140k ?

The world is his oyster now.

He will be wasted in Union no doubt. Rather see him go NRL!!

In fairness to Kyle he hasn't played a full game in well over 6 months, has spent the entire off season recovering from some quite serious operations, had only done light training and had only played around 30 minutes of a friendly prior to the game at the weekend which, had Pryce not have been injured, he would have unlikely have played the full game.

Just because the result was a draw does not mean individual player stats should be even-ish.

frick, takes a decade to produce a 1/2 decent English halfback and he clears off to RU!

It wasn't me who said he was 'superb' I thought he was his usual overrated self in a tough, tight game. Didn't want to know, maybe he's scared of getting injured because he doesn't like getting tackled anymore because everyone knows if you smash him he disappears.

who is eastmond?

He's agreed to join Bath, Heart say's scumbag head says can't blame him. Gutted he's going but wish him well and hope we get a decent replacement

Nobody anymore.

How long has it been since the salary cap was altered? Have we had no inflation since then? Have club's incomes not increased since then? We need to raise the cap if we want to be able to compete with the money sloshing around in yawnion.

How much cash are the Saints gonna get for him

If the new TV deal can be negotiated at an increase then we may be able to bump it up from next year, but I'm not holding my breath given the current financial climate.

Unless the cap was doubled (which we clearly can't afford as a sport), we still wouldn't be competing.

The reason our best players consider RU is that their international game is a cash cow and the players are handsomely rewarded for playing lots and lots of internationals each year.

Even if we offered Kyle a five years deal on £200k, he'd still be a fair way down on what he could end up being paid in RU, and that's before we even consider his earning potential post retirement as a yawnion pin-up rather than a little known league player. I wouldn't be surprised if players like Ashton trouser £50k each for a 6 Nations tournament alone.

Can't blame him at all really, especially seeing how well Chris Ashton's doing at the minute.

Piling on the pounds?

Has he shown you his bank account too?

If it is the draw of the international game that is causing rugby players to go to union, then we really only have ourselves to blame. Union get 80,000 for an international on a Friday night, whereas we struggle to fill Doncaster's tiny ground for some of our internationals. We need to get bums on seats, and create the prospect of playing in front of huge crowds when you pull on the national jersey.

No, but I've seen him make the step up from the odd trip to Burger King to regular trips to Gourmet Burger Kitchen.

press conference at sale tomorrow 7.45 am. /www.salesharks.com/news/dimes-set-to-announce-his-first-signing

Luke McCallister apparently

TBF we are hampered by a ltd amount of Int teams that are competitve and the main focus being on club RL. Aside from Ashes tests and the odd WC final against Oz have Int's drawn decent crowds (40k+) in the last 40 years?

It would be interesting to knwo how many people at Twickenham games are season ticket hoders of a RU club, not many I suspect as it is more a social occasion (like the boat race) more than to follow the sport imo.