He’s still better than any player in your team. He would muller your powder puff pack

be great to see him playing in SL.

be great to see him play in a wire shirt..... i would love him now in this team... just what we need.

no way we spending that kind of cash.... so im happy see him turn out for toronto.

This kind of thing becomes a problem in sports without a salary cap, when a lot of clubs are well resourced, eg in football and where there are alternatives like China where mediocre players can earn super wages.

The worst nightmare for a club is a situation like Alexis Sanchez at United or Mesut Ozil at Arsenal where a club puts someone stellar wages who then doesn't deliver, and they have teammates who are performing much better who are on much lower wages and then start using that salary as a benchmark. It's probably why Aaron Ramsey let his Arsenal contract run down so he could leave on a free and cash in at Juventus.

In RL....not so much. The salary cap bites and the only way you can earn megabucks is to get yourself as a marquee player on one of a very small group of clubs. The scarcity of those spots limits the ability for players to throw their weight around in contract negotiations. Ramsey would have found it much harder to get the contract that he did, if the marquee player rule applied in football and there were only a handful of potential landing spots that were already coveted by lots of other top players.

I disagree slightly with it doesn't happen in sports with a salary cap, look at the NFL. I see you maybe a fan with a Broncos helmet. Kirk Cousins as a free agent went to the Vikings on a $28 million contract. Then Matt Ryan (debatable whether he is as good as Cousins) gets a $30 million dollar contract. Dak Prescott is in his final year as a rookie and it is rumoured to be to be trying to get $34 million a year or he is going to go elsewhere. There's obviously space on their caps and there is a hell of a lot more money in the sport but it happens.

I do agree with the not so much in RL, but it is there to be manipulated if you can bag a marquee spot.

He was superb vs. Wales today. Still a great player.

The difference here is that these kind of £5m salaries in RL are only viable 'outside' the normal salary cap through the marquee spots, which are scarce. There are only 2 available per team, and even then how many of the 12 SL teams can actually afford exceptional salaries. A player's ability to bargain a mega wage depends on him having credible options to go elsewhere.

In the NFL those huge salaries fit inside the cap and there are 32 teams who can pay up to the cap (although have different cap space available at any point in time). There are more potential landing spots for someone who wants big money so top players can leverage that. In practice you tend to see these exorbitant deals go to quarterbacks who are on the market at the right time, when a team who is already strong and thinks its in a window to win now/soon (so won't be anywhere near a high draft pick), needs to retain/recruit a quarterback. Teams will overpay rather than risk the lottery of not having the right quarterback which could undermine the whole rest of their team. So the guys like you say like Cousins, Ryan, get big deals and Jared Goff too.

The interesting thing to look for now is whether that really has set a benchmark effect. Are the next group of quarterbacks who are coming off contract going to be able to negotiate hugely inflated deals...Prescott, Winston, Mariota? Dak maybe, although I think he needs a strong end of this season. I think Winston and Mariota will struggle to beat the market. Other teams have seen the problems that come when you overpay for someone who doesn't give really elite production.

Also look at what happened to Melvin Gordon who went on strike then came back with his tail between his legs and also will probably struggle to cash in on the kind of deal he hoped for.

It will happen in RL too where other clubs will see what Toronto really get for SBW. They won't expect him to win Toronto SL, but they'd need to see some return such as SBW being close to MOS level and it having a transformative effect on marketing for Toronto and bringing the crowds in. If he was just so-so, or got injured a lot, or his presence didn't excite the city, then other clubs will be more risk-averse when it comes to sinking huge money in to one player.

Canadians aren't that naive Sally.

That’s a very fair point and I completely agree with your counterpoint. Melvin Gordon has shot himself in the foot, a injury plagued season last year and a lack of form has left him no option.

Was reminiscing about when we signed Andrew Johns; just can’t see anything floor that happening again. The media interest, buildup to the game and the game itself. Great memories

Just seems like a massive publicity stunt, the wage offered is rediculous if true. He will be a decent player still but not a world beater and not worth this kind of money as well as stakes in the club. Sonny must be looking at this and rubbing his hands together at a potential big retirement plan. i don't blame him at all and it will be good to see him play super league but i just think Toronto are looking at it for publicity rather than just a player they need.

Heard that the deal is done at Toronto for SBW at 10 mil Canadian Dollars pa which I think equates to just shy of £6mil, scary stuff if this is correct.

Just announced on BBC website signed 2 year deal more details to follow.

Fantastic news story....

But still topped by RU
Saracens RU salary cap breech fine and points deduct. That is how you deal with something not like the weak RFL.

Agreed, that's a proper punishment. I doubt sarries will get relegated and they can get 5 points per game in union so I'd say that was the equivalent of say a 16 point deduction in superleague.

They won't be troubling the playoffs this season barring a miracle.

Deducted 35 points and £5mil fine, that we stop any further breaches

In contrast...Pies -2 points, given back.

Regarding sonny bill I think it's a great signing for Toronto and superleague in general.

For years when we have spent money on big signings that other clubs can't afford, their fans have been telling us that it's a waste of money and we should be spending that money investing in our youth. Now we can go and say that to the Toronto fans.

They only did it to stall the SBW story, don't worry the punishment will disappear on appeal.
I also suspect, although it hasn't been reported anywhere that I have seen, that the sums involved with Saracens are much higher than anything seen in RL

My thoughts exactly.
If i remember right, wasn't their deduction put back to the 2020 season?
I've heard/seen nobody mention this since!

No suspended till the end of 2019 season when they'd be no cap challenge anyway because 2019 have finished before the audit could be checkout...and Pies already pinched a season for secret objections in 2017 when they won the 2018 GF because of it.

It just takes the piste

Yes - I have to agree RD.

Far too often the big teams have been 'protected for breaches for the sake of the sport or that is how it appears. But it's blatantly wrong.

I've seen more RL national press in the last week, than ive probably seen over the last few years thanks to this SBW signing.

Its a bit like the time Widnes signed Davies from union. (that signing ripped the back out of union at the time.... no one could quite believe what had happened).

I think its great.... Toronto linked with Tuilangi today.... i dont know what the rules are around their salary cap... But i hope they dont have one.

I think they are looking at 2021 for Tuilaga going to Toronto.

I read somewhere that we made enquiries about Tuilangi before signing Burrell.

They follow exactly the same salary cap as everyone else does. SBW will count as £150k on the cap. If they sign Tuilangi he will count as zero on the cap in Year one, then 50% in Year Two. Signing Tuilangi would still be a risk. He rejected an £850k contract from France earlier this year. You'd think he'd want a similar fee from Toronto to give up his International payments in RU, that would mean in the second year of his contract he would take up a marquee spot - thats a risk.

I think Toronto are quite rightly cashing in on the exposure, and allowing themselves to be linked with everyone. But I think they would be better off targeting a genuine NRL star than risking a marque spot on a Union player.