www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/r ... 6052850747 This will have a huge effect on Wigan. Players like Richards, Lima, Hoffman etc. will easily be able to find huge contracts down under compared to here. Secondly most of our best young players will surely be targetted by aussie clubs, Tomkins, Farrell, Mossop... the list goes on. This will have a massive effect on proffesional rugby league in europe and the quality will no doubt go down. However, we will still produce the best young players as we always have and so we should remain a force even without all of our best players in a worst case scenario. Great for the game down under though, players like SBW will hopefully return to the NRL and they will be able to keep all the big names, the NRL crowds will fly up as the product gets better and better. In conclusion I hope this can kick start a growth in the international game! More young players will get a chance in super league and our best players will improve playing down under. Hopefully RL can begin to dwarf RU and football in NZ and Aus.

www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/r ... 6052850747 This will have a huge effect on Wigan. Players like Richards, Lima, Hoffman etc. will easily be able to find huge contracts down under compared to here. Secondly most of our best young players will surely be targetted by aussie clubs, Tomkins, Farrell, Mossop... the list goes on. This will have a massive effect on proffesional rugby league in europe and the quality will no doubt go down. However, we will still produce the best young players as we always have and so we should remain a force even without all of our best players in a worst case scenario. Great for the game down under though, players like SBW will hopefully return to the NRL and they will be able to keep all the big names, the NRL crowds will fly up as the product gets better and better. In conclusion I hope this can kick start a growth in the international game! More young players will get a chance in super league and our best players will improve playing down under. Hopefully RL can begin to dwarf RU and football in NZ and Aus.

You can tell how big this is (could be) as it's on the VT and many club boards.

Part of me thinks this could take the cream of Super League talent down under in the first season or two, resulting in an immediate dip in the standard of the league. Recruiting top level Aussies or Kiwis will be even more difficult and there's the risk that we could go back to the days of bringing journeymen to the northern hemisphere. Another part of me thinks that this ultimately could be good for the game both here and in the NRL. For the NRL it's obvious as they will potentially be able to attract any player on the planet. As for over here, well fewer antipodeans means more chances for British and French youngsters. The NRL will inevitably cherry pick the best players, but I'd much rather see rugby league talent stay in the game than go to other sports. A larger pool of players to choose from, especially including a decent number playing in the world's premier club competition, would mean a stronger England and therefore a more competitive international game.

Wigan/Leeds Andy isn't going to like this thread....

Why not? All I can see a thread started about the NRL cap, rather than a thread not about the cap turning into an old woman whinge about it. No doubt this will turn out the same given the usual suspects but at least it's about the cap in the first place eh?

A subtlety I'm not surprised you can't appreciate.

if this is the case then the sl is going to get left far far behind,
im personally gutted about it,
i want to watch the best rugby in our stadiums n games not have to watch it all on tv.

Could this actually kill our game? With that much money, playing the same sport in better weather most of the international side may travel down under. Im not even sure Tomkins' homesickness during the 4 nations will help when hes offered 3-400k tbh.

I may be wrong but it could be a worry. Is it 7 million AUD or 7 million in equivalent to pounds?

Story here www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/r ... 6052850747 It's $7m

Story here www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/r ... 6052850747 It's $7m

Quote ="Pemps"Story here www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/r ... 6052850747 It's $7m'" At the moment, equivalent to £4.6m.

Quote ="Pemps"Story here www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/r ... 6052850747 It's $7m'" At the moment, equivalent to £4.6m.

So £2m(ish) above ours.

Have you put the other £1m in your back pocket?

Sorry, it should have read £2m above Warrington's

Very good, I see what you did there.

As they're going to 30 man squads it works out as an average of £150,000 per player per year.

And I would argue that they deserve it. Our's works out at £64,000 per man.

It would be great to be in a position to increase the cap but we'd need a massive cash injection from sponsors to be able to increase our average player wages.

I do think they should allow 3rd party sponsorship for players. Sponsored cars, boot deals, clothing deals etc.

The reality is Super League in the UK has stood still for the last 5 years or more from a financial perspective, and unless things change our game in its current form cannot be stustained.

The RFL in the UK have to take the blame for the lack of growth in our sport over the past decade. They are paid to oversea the development and growth of the game, to increase its appeal to both supporters and sponsors - they have failed in this task.

SKY TV have a monopoly on coverage and there are no competitors waiting to take their place. Its no wonder TV rights have barely increased over the years and the game cannot attract blue chip sponsors (Engage and Iron Bru for god sake!!).

I know we are a minority sport and in Oz RL is akin to premier league soccer, hence the reason for $7m+ cap over there as TV channels scramble for TV coverage rights.

However my point is that no mater how disadvantages the European game is, it does not excuse the RFL's failure to grow the sport on these shores.

It seems they are either not accountable for their failure or our club chairmen have accepted zero growth as the 'norm'.

the problem with our game is that the bigger teams are carrying the league,
we can never move forward with the cap and the lower clubs as they are, there is no incentive for them to push, for them to become bigger, get more fans and ultimately get more income.
I honestly think that we are being held back by the RFL being a joke, and the smaller clubs hanging onto our coat tails.
I dont have any answers on how to change it but i do feel that we are stuck and in danger of going backwards

Playing numbers are up. Isn't that growth?

The financial mismanagement of the game in the UK is appalling. You're right that zero growth has been accepted as the norm. It's worse than zero growth though, because inflation erodes the SC over 10 years very significantly in real terms.

No one wants to address this issue though. I await the usual abuse from W/L Andy for daring to mention this...

It is, and the fact that the amateur game is doing well shows what a great sport RL is and how badly the professional game is being run.

my thoughts exactly.

One of the main issues is that there is no international governing body, e.g fifa
(please correct me if im wrong)
I think there is an international federation but they do not have any say in the way the games a governed. This means that the rugby league over here and in Australia could be going in two completely different directions. with neither one willing to look at the other and accept best practice.

Realistically which clubs can afford to pay another £500K on wages? If my memory serves me well, Wigan operated at a loss in their last set of accounts.

I would have thought that the current cap, rather than pegging us back is stretching the lower teams.

Not sure how in demand Puletua was back in Aus, but, the new cap over there hasnt taken him back to the NRL, having just signed a new deal at saints

It only comes in to effect in 2013

Don't ask Deano G, only a month ago he didn't realise rugby league clubs generally lose money year on year.

Don't disagree with you, there probably aren't many clubs that could at the moment. The problem is though that we've had about a decade at the current level and if we genuinely can't raise it then that shows that clubs are actually going backwards - wages inflation will have knocked at least 20-25% off the value of the cap since it was brought in. There needs to be some plan as to how we can reverse this trend or else we need to accept that sooner or later the game will be semi-pro.

What's weird is that crowds have gone up at the majority of clubs and yet most clubs appear to still be losing money/barely breaking even, despite the cap reducing in real terms. I suspect some of the modern stadia have proved more expensive than people hoped (and I don't think Wigan have a great deal re the DW) but it is a pretty daming indictment of RL's financial management.

When did I say that? Or are you a mind reader?

I recall last time these pathetic allegations were made because you didn't want to answer the point about inflation eroding the cap.