www.therfl.co.uk/news/article/23 ... -crusaders Fill your boots springs to mind.

www.therfl.co.uk/news/article/23 ... -crusaders Fill your boots springs to mind.

I knew that would happen. Have they got any forwards worth having?

Fair decision but I hope we don't sign any. rovers will be filling their boots no doubt

O'hara , Chan or Mellars

so, the RFL have basically admitted that their rules are unenforceable in law

Hudg will love this

Have they? Or have they stepped in to make sure that the Crusaders players don't suffer due to the actions of the cowboys 'running' the club?

For all the flack I and many others have given the RFL over the years I think this decision is very sensible as the players contracts are now void through no fault of their own, and could have struggled getting another job to support their families etc.

Now, now, now... with the Heremaia dispensation, you've abandoned the moral high ground on this.

It's a common sense decision - I'd like to think they'd have taken care of Wakefield's club-trained players at least, in the same way.

Is it getting to the point where the fed-trained rule is more trouble than it is worth? Good on paper, but... It isn't well understood by fans, it's leaky as hell (though this will diminish), it potentially creates strange inconsistencies (the 20 year old convert from Union, for example - though you'd assume he'd get a dispensation) and it makes life more complicated for clubs (alongside the quota, the cap and club-trained rule). Maybe with the NRL about to become much wealthier, perhaps it is also going to be a bit pointless.

Wonder if Bradford knew about this before they gave Sammut only a one year deal?

Hanbury?

Can't say I like this, I don't know about the legalities but it would have been better to have had a dispersal draft, like in the US. The bottom team picks one player first, the second bottom etc. If not all clubs want to participate they could just pass. That would at least distribute the imported players around otherwise one or two clubs could end up with a team full of imports.

Would love us to get Witt but we have enough halves now.

My problem with it is there was always a chance of crusaders going anyway. Does this mean that this will happen ever 3 years when somebody leaves the franchise. Disagree with the decision myself.

Makes a further mockery of the rugby league overseas quota rules.

A shame the Crusaders players stand to lose their jobs but does the RFL owe them a living?

They owe the Crusaders players something. It was their idea not to tell the players until 5 minutes before the annoucement at 11 o'clock, thus enabling and robber to go into hiding. The football team are on strike now because they haven't been paid either.

Are the crusaders players any different to the wakey ones who might have been looking for new jobs?

[url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/14328781.stmWill the RFL do anything about this?[/url

Unless these players are offered very long contracts the effect will be time limited.

The RFL aren't offering them a living. They're stepping in because the particular circumstances at Crusaders make it much harder for those players to get new jobs than might otherwise have been the case. I would also say that this pretty much signals that Crusaders won't continue in any form next season.

Difficult to see what they [ican[/i do TBH. It's clear that Moss and Roberts intend to close down both Crusaders and Wrexham FC as fast as possible so no threats involving the club's future will have an effect.

What might be possible, depending on how the situation with the ground pans out, would be to use the £700k from the mortgage to compensate players who have lost out. Not sure it would be enough though.

It does make a mockery of the quota system.

It also helps these players who have moved themselves (and in some cases their families) from the other side of the world and now find themselves hung out to dry by Crusaders' owners.

Will the availability of this pool of players help make teams like Widnes, Quins and Wakey more competitive next season? If it does it may be no bad thing.

The RFL though with their obsession with expansion into Wales have , by turning a blind eye or failing to properly monitor the club , been party to the game through the treatment of the players being brought into disrepute. They may even be seen by some to be at least partly reponsible for the current situation and I wouldn't be surprised to see them embroiled in a legal case brought by affected players if they don't step in with a solution.

Yes , like him.

Do they still count on the salary cap?

No, we don't have to pay them either

There's no doubt that the RFL have made some big mistakes regarding Crusaders, but the sole responsibility for the pension shortfall - both morally and legally - lies with the club's owners. Anyone trying to bring a legal case against the RFL would be wasting time and money IMO.