Its mad that over here with the better product Union gets all the media limelight while League is ignored. In Australia the NRL is the best product and outside the AFL heartlands there is no doubt which code reigns supreme and the Union powers have tried to change rule after rule to try and appeal to those who prefer the league product but it isnt working.

James O'Connor, the Wallabies stand-off, was not on the books of a league club but he is from a league background, he's from Gold Coast and supports Parramatta. He went to a school that played RU and got picked up by union as a junior. But yes with the NRL having money now he is a potential signing.

The big potential signing from RU to RL, that has been in the pipeline for a while in Aus, is Quade Cooper who is probably the biggest 'personality' in Australian RU, he's NZ born but came through the Aussie system and opted for the Wallabies rather than the All Blacks. He is still quite young but he is like a RU version of Benji Marshall. He is fast and has very good footwork and he likes to take risks and play off the cuff rugby that doesn't always come off in the structured gameplay of RU, but he looks like the type of player that would be more suited to league. If you search on youtube for Quade Cooper there will be some highlights vids so you will see what I mean. Last year Parramatta supposedly came in for him but he said he wanted to play the RU world cup before any switch.

The problem Cooper has had at the moment is he is a bit of a big mouth, he had a lot to say about New Zealand and the All Blacks (he is the most hated player when he plays in NZ as they see him as a judas), he is like Anthony Mundine was, he is controversial in the media and supremely confident in his own abilities. Earlier in the year he said he wanted $700000 a season to switch to league after the World Cup, and he had an up and down World Cup, so now league agents have warned him that he would be lucky to get half that value now. IMO Cooper just needs to rein his mouth in and mature a bit as a player and not be so brazen in his financial demands, deep down he probably wants to switch to league as he knows he is more of a league player, but it might take a year or so of maturity and a more reasonable contract request for it to happen. I reckon he could play for the Kangaroos in league though.

Quade Cooper looks like one hell of a player!

Nope I just don't get it....the only time the fans get excited whilst watching yawnion - except when they're doing the mexican wave of course - is when a try is scored or a big hit is made....why the hell aren't they watching League then!!!!!

The skill level was atrocious and clearly most of the players have given up tackling for lent early....why would anyone pay to watch this rubbish??

Happy Sam got to score a try, he should have had 3 if that big lump of a centre knew how to pass - Joel will be perfect, he cant pass either to his winger so he'll fit in perfectly.

Borefest of a match, glad Sam got to experience the true union experience - real rugby is Wigan v Saints on boxing day in the rain with the stands bouncing up and down as the match is tied at 79 minutes, not kick and clap in London.

So a pre season friendly not followed by many people outside a small geographical location in poor conditions in an unsafe stadium is more representative than a super league or championship fixture in a good quality stadium on a summer's evening in dry conditions ?

Unfortunately I watched it. I cant believe that there are people who say tht RU has better skills than RL. Unbelievably bad. Did you see the size of the Aus No3! he had eaten a fat man, he actually wobbled!. There has to be an optimum size that a man can be before he looks unathletic and cumbersome. Whatever it is I have seen a bag full of them in this game.

The Wallabies were far more successful at tackling Sam than the Kangaroos were, they also were not missing many tackles. In RL/RU the % of missed tackles are around the 5-10% mark. There were a much greater number of missed tackles in the 4 nation final, and England failed to cross the try line despite having more sets of six than Australia.

Think yesterday's game would have been a wake-up call for ST, he look very confused in defence and indecisive in attack.

You're a bit obsessed with Sam arent you? looking at your post history;

You are a Leeds fan and I claim my £5!

Any input i have from watching that game has been nicely summed up in the previous 6 pages.

In brief:

*Union is crap
*Sam had 14 idiots on the pitch with him
*Sam will go for the money, crowds and the [isupport[/i from his nation when playing internationally, clearly not because he prefers the southern ponsey version of our game

Trolling at its worst. Why do you even bother posting on League forums?

I thought Sam looked lightweight when confronted by some of the opposition - and I dont just mean the forwards. On that showing its difficult to image what his ideal position in RU would be. He doesnt appear to have the kicking game necessary to be a fullback, he would be bored to tears on the wing and hes probably not savy enough to play stand-off. So as well as Sam being turned off RU, I suspect RU may think again about him.

Sam is a good RL player, if he went to Union he would fail as theres no position for him and he's too light weight.

Paul Wellens in his pomp would have made a very good Rugby Union player.

Hang on, that's crediting them with intelligence.

The evidence of the England RU camp would suggest that's in short supply.

The game yesterday was pretty awful and it's hard really to pass comment on any sensible outcomes regarding Sam and his participation in such an odd set up of a game. For me I was glad to see him finish the game with a try and in good health.

where is this Sam is too small for Union stuff coming from? I have to laugh when players smaller than him are the best players in the code.

Clearly those of this opinion have no understanding of Union.

I am a very big sale and union fan as well as Wigan. In fact I was watching union before I even knew league existed. I can now say I much prefer league, but still keep a keen eye on union.

Some people's views on union on here are way off the mark. Tomkins could easily play full back in union. A regular union FB gets called world class every time he joins the attacking line. Chris Aston (granted he is a winger) gets the highest possible plaudits because he runs off players looking for the offload, or late pass out of the back.

Sam would do that all day long, and take advantage of it very easily. He was wasted on the Wing because he was waiting for others to supply him. Get him making those curving runs he makes for Wigan all the time and he would have destroyed any union team. In my opinion, as a union fan, Sam would walk into the national England team.

Any way it doesn't matter, he is ours and how pleased I am of that.

Quade Cooper's other problem is that he is really poor in defence - like Danny McGuire on a bad day, but all the time.

I played rugby union for years (only just retired from a half decent level), so am far from anti-union. I love playing it, but rarely bother watching as its just not that entertaining.

Salford are about to go into a new stadium where Sale will also be allowed to play.
Some fans were a bit miffed at this, but should the Salford club be looking at it as a oppotunity to steal some fans from a new area?
Sale RU lose the best part of £2million a year, apparently, if Salford could hammer their attendences down and get the local kids interested in and playing rugby league, it might well contibute to see Sale fall off the radar as a premiership club, leaving only Newcastle Falcons and Leeds Carnegie (both perrenial strugglers) left inthe north of England.

Rugby Union is for playing, not watching. Its a tough sport, but at an amature level you can use your experience to go on playing a lot, lot longer than league allows you. That's one of the reasons the amature side is so popular. You'll never get rid of this, what you need is the lads in the bar of the RU club talking about and watching Rugby League.

Spot on.... And its always been thus. Boring as hell to watch LIVE at club level. And many armchair RU pundits have never seen a club game live, just the big internationals, which they do well.

I watched that rubbish on Saturday and admit the skill levels were appalling, the passing was way off the mark. The point I would make though when some are saying why would Sam go for what in effect is a 25% pay rise they are missing a big point. IF and it is IF he made a big impact the spin offs and sponsorship he could attract will pale his wage into insignificance. The money a Jonny Wilkinson / Jason Robinson earned outside his 'salary' will have doubled his playing wage. The national media would be interested and that could be the lure that will take him away.

be interesting to know what sam really thought of it all - not the standard 'im glad to have given it a go' line but what he really thought. we like to think he would have thought 'this is boring standing here doing nothing' but it could be the case, as previous posters allude to that the game itself was not that important - the crowd/coverage/contacts/sponsors/meal/drinks etc after it may be what made the impression...

and i dont mean that in a 'our pies are better than yours' more a, what sort of discussions were taking place and with what sort of people

Thats gambling on the fact he will get all them deals though isnt it? Theres no guarantee he will get that is there?

I agree thats why I said it was an IF but as a professional sports star who will back himself to be the best (I'd assume Sam falls fairly squarely into this bracket) the lure of that level of acknowledgment must be a lure. The one thing that is guaranteed is that if he stays in league he will never be more than a big fish in a small pond. The NRL may be the other option to achieve that goal.

Hope I'm wrong and he does stay in SL because on his day he is great to watch and will (if he isn;t already) become the best there is over here. If he does stop he needs advising that he needs to broaden his horizons and not just play in Wigan, reckon we could find a spot for him at Hull KR..



As an aside to this debate I reckon Charnley could make a better RU player than Tomkins, he will have the size and pace to be better than Ashton.

Charnley, Ben Jones Bishop, Ryan Hall and Tom Briscoe have all got the potential to be as good are or better than Ashton in Union and that's why the clubs must do every thing in their powers to keep them in Super League.