Quote ="Wigan28/Leeds18 Andy"Or maybe as I've stated earlier it may have been agreed that he could play the odd exhibition game of RU to supplement his income outside the salary cap in order for us to be able to afford to keep him in RL. As much as it may be unpalatable, playing on Saturday is likely to raise his profile much more than any game of RL he's played and therefore increase his sponsorship opportunities with some "blue chip" companies, again as a means of keeping him in RL for the moment.
Maybe a bit "left field" for some to take on-board no doubt, or maybe not useful because of the agendas some have on here.'"
I've seen quotes from Sam saying his agent approached him during the Four Nations with this opportunity, after his contract was signed.
We have to be realistic, even in RL he only broke out as a potential superstart 18 months back, the wider sporting world will have known little about him. As soon as he steps onto the Twickenham field that attention will be on him, especially if he puts in a great performance, if it's good enough to attract Blue Chip sponsors, those sponsors will want to see him playing in Union internationals and the European Cup, not a Friday night game away against Wakefield.
I see talk about the NRL being an alternative, personally I see this as being a less and less attractive proposition for UK RL players, sure they can earn decent money, but the UK/European market is where the biggest money is earned, not just wages but sponsorship. Then consider profile, I'm sure there are at least a handful of Aussie Rules stars with UK roots, yet we know zero about them, the NRL is slightly different as RL has a foothold in this country, but even so, if a UK player goes to the NRL he will not be heard or seen again in the UK apart from the specialist RL press. While us mere mortals wil only look at the six figure salaries and say who cares, if your a UK sportsman at the top of your game, you want the opportunity to be recognised by your fellow countrymen, up there with the footballers, cricketers, golfers, motor racing drivers, Olympic athletes, not just an annoymous rich guy.
While it's not for good reasons, you only need see how Union has dominated the sporting talk these past few days, England loseonce again to Australia in the Four Nations and it's given as much (or little) coverage as a typical SL game, no inquiary, no media fallout, just another loss, carry on as normal.
