shaun edwards at wasps... a loss to rugby league. think mike ford is there too.

ashton doing great for england at the moment too.

quite alot of ex rugby league going into yawnion

massive loss losing kyle eastmond next season to bath too.. we need to keep these kind of players in rugby league but the salary cap wont allow it, bath also mentioned the tompkin brothers we cant compete with ru, they can spend 4million and we can spend 1.65m

It's a huge concern. We aren't in the same league (no pun) as Union either in terms of media coverage, financial clout or worldwide support. Losing the cream of our crop to that lot will just make our product less of a draw than it already is beyond the heartlands in the north and over in oz. I am sorry to see Eastmond go, but in financial and media exposure terms he is definitely making the correct decision. I'm not sure how he'll get on, but he has the raw talent that's for sure and I wish him well.

Ashton is the sweetheart of English RU at the moment, and rightly so. He has been in scorching form and head and shoulders above the rest. Still at least Denis Betts has seen the light and returned to league



If Sam and Joel go to Union then what chance does our national side have of competing with the Aussies and NZ lads? Two players don't make a team, but if Union keep snatching our brightest young talents it will send the national team backwards and forced to select players who are not international standard. Maybe the salary cap needs looking at, but then again we don't have the financial backing to keep our clubs paying top money and staying solvent. Union is literally laughing all the way to the bank.

how can we increase the salaray cap? is it going to be reviewed anytime soon

some teams in super league dont even spend upto the salary cap now so it could cause the level playing field to widen.

i think we are ruled by sky and how much they are wanting to pay the rfl for the coverage.
if sky pay more then maybe the clubs salary cap can be lifted higher

Sky pay far more for the RU coverage than the RL coverage despite the RL getting much higher figures.

TV advertisers don't want to be in the HT adverts etc like they do in union. The starting credits on Sky are sponsored by Iron Bru whereas Guinness are there for union. I'm afraid the CEO and marketing executives for these companies look down their noses at us as fans. They think we're oiks who don't buy their products. The public school brigade still dominate these positions in all sectors of employment and this helps to perpetuate the situation. The class system is still alive and well.

Equally unions cap is far higher than our is and they don't stick to it anyway. Raising our cap wont help our game at all.

We need to become more competitive Internationally to raise the games profile and the only real long terms solution is to invest in the youth systems so we can have a good production line of talent that helps compensate for short term losses of talented players chasing the money in union.

We must invest in our kids and teach them well.

A key to this will be how successful league can become in the capital. I know it is a tiresome subject and insulting to the loyal majority of die hards in the north but if the game can take hold down south things will change. To be fair Quins have started the season brilliantly and more and more kids are taking the sport up down there and there are also some very good coaches plying their trade down there. Things have moved on dramatically since my days in the youth ranks at the Broncos and Skolars and this can only be a positive thing. I would not begrudge Quins winning the SL at some point in the future as I am certain it will be a benefit for all concerned within RL in the UK.

Also, the international game is nowhere near the standard of Union. Apart from Australia, England and New Zealand who else is there? Union is all about the global game and a World Cup in Union is always far more even than the RL equivalent. It's a real tradgedy because I am in no doubt as to which code is superior, but it's just the state of play right now.

that is the key point improve the national team and everything else flows from that

not improving the national game by letting eastmond go are we.

But he can't be forced to stay. If he wants to go he can go, it's his choice and the only option we have is to try and produce as many of these talented kids as we can through all available youth systems to ensure the impact of losing one is minimised.

Saints can't pay him money they don't have ATEOTD.

think id go for £200,000 a year or whatever it was. wonder what saints offered ...

Apparently they matched Bath's offer, but he clearly felt his future lay beyond the lovely town of St Helens. He'll need to produce for Saints though, otherwise he would do as well to go now. His form so far has been shocking by all accounts.

cant believe saints offered him the same money

he will start on the wing for bath... then go to full back.

you can tell he was going to bath the way he has been playing

Sod him if he wants to go to yawnion. He'll get bored on the wing twiddling his thumbs. Can't fault him for going for the money he'll earn but Saints should play him in the reserves for some games this season and blood another young lad in readiness for next season. He was a good player but far from the finished article and thought he was bigger than the club by all accounts.

Union's cap is £4M and they don't even adhere to that. In France the cap is higher still and just there as a token measure to be looked back at as they soar past it.

I don't know the exact details with regards TV deals but ESPN show union matches as well as Sky so they have negotiated in there to get that. ITV pay so they can broadcast a highlights show as well. It's like BBC's Superleague show, but professionally done and broadcast nationally.

Try and google to find out how much the union deal is worth and you'll have great trouble finding it. It's bent.

Eastmond will not only be earning a bigger salary but now will be pen to more personal sponsorships, endorsements etc. So in the time he has before his biscuit ankles give way on him he now has much more earning potential.

Ultimately though this is a hugely complicated issue that has chicken & egg parts to it as well as the class system and inept RFL top brass hindering the game from being paid what it is truly worth to the broadcasters IMO. It will be interesting to see what kind of TV deal we can negotiate this time given the viewing figures they get for our games, the relative money going to union and the fact that the people running our game sometimes look like they couldn't organise a good session down the boozer.

Not robust enough for international selection. A good hard tackle and he limps off. And we ought to know, it has happened when we have been playing them.

My opinion too.

Regarding Tompkins as an international, I did not see anything special either in the four nations ( Robinson shone more) or in the w/c challenge. Only one glimpse of anything when he got taken out on a kick through, having said that he was only getting something back that he does on a regular basis, he is a little cheat on the quiet, and the sooner refs pick up on him the better.

Saints are in rebuilding mode at the moment, so I would blood a youngster as you say, and sod Eastmond off into the second team and let him stew there for the season, he is on contract so can`t do anything about it and his game should suffer for this and Bath would have to start afresh with him.
Can`t blame him for going for the money, but if Saints offered him the same, I have an issue with that as Saints have put 7 years into his development.

It would be unfair to judge Tompkins harshly based on the four nations as hardly any of the squad did themselves any favours. Robinson did himself no harm, but on a week by week basis Tompkins has shown he has something very special and he will become a class act on the international stage given time. How old is he anyway? So much talent it's a joke, but I agree he does have a sly side to his game which he could do without as he is good enough that he doesn't need to cheat.

Tomkins !!!!!!!!!!

The Tompkins spelling was annoying me

The best halves have always had a bit of needle in them. It's part of what makes them what they are. If he loses his needle he loses an essential part of his game. What he needs to do is add a bit of control & smartness to it, which will come with experience and maturity.

He's a cracking player is Tomkins.

id have him playing for me. when fit and on form hes great.

still a loss for superleague and international game... if im paying my money or watching on tv i want to see the best players on tv and he will be playing next year but not for rugby league

As there was really only one broadcaster with the cash to sign up RL last time then is it no wonder that the RFL took what was on offer and tugged their collective forlocks at the Clan Murdoch??

The interesting scenario will be at the end of this season when a new [url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/feb/06/espn-rugby-league-broadcast-rightsTV deal[/url is negotoiated as Sky now have a genuine broadcasting rival in ESPN for all the UK sporting rights Sky currently control.

If the RFL are smart and get in a serious sports broadcasting rights negoiator at this point then the money that could come into the RFL and ultimately be spread throughout the game is a lot more than at present. Maybe the game could afford to increase current salary caps in all professional competitions.

Also a 2013 World Cup win would also make the national media have to take note of the top tier of the game at least. Allowing for greater exposure of the games stars and those commercial revenue opportunities that fall into the laps of other sportsman currently.

The downside of increased TV revenues would be at some superleague clubs that "blinkered" directors and coaches would want to fill up their squads with even greater numbers of "convicts" than they already do. Unless the overseas player rules are tightened up even more than currently, say by offering more from central funds to those clubs who sign less overseas players as has happened in county cricket, therefore rewarding clubs who seek to promote the most of the home grown talent that is available.

wouldnt want espn to get the rights, would be a backward step.... even less exposure on that channel

Based on what? The fact that there is no RL currently on ESPN?



RL "Heartlands" the home of the "Glass is half empty" brigade.