No doubt (due to salary cap) the SL game has levelled out, but has it levelled up, or levelled down?

Has SL gone backwards, because of salary cap, or other reasons?

my own personal opinion is that superleague has gone backwards, matches don't seem to be as exciting as they use to be.
Or is that just because i watch Hull play


Just lately i have watched some better national league games.

When Salford can go to Leeds and done a job on them its great for the comp. However, it means as a Hull fan getting beat its not just because of bad coaching or poor performances, its because teams we were used to beating are improving. Still not enough British players to pick from for international games so that respect maybe not. Do the overseas players have a positive or negative impact. Both IMO

I hate being wrong.......But the cap is working. The plus sides far outweigh the negative. We are seeing teams that had previously NO BLEEDIN' HOPE in beating teams like Bradford, Leeds, Saints, Wigan and even us (this mainly leans to HKR

). In the past 10 years teams like Huddersfield, Salford and even Wakey were the SL whipping boys and a good days training for our lads....and two points. Now, the field has indeed been levelled.
The main down-side of the cap is the way teams/set-ups like Hull FC are getting their youth development tapped up by teams that don't put as much effort into this department. We also had to part company with Shaun Briscoe who was a real valid member of our team and is now one of the 'enemys' best players (after they had to supply Celtic Crusaders with their team that got 'em into SL

). He would still be an FC player i'm sure if the cap hadn't stung us.

Fabulous question. Have to say levelled down, games are no where near as good as a few seasons ago. Having said that it does appear to be a closer competition apart from one team who appear to be able to pay top class players small salaries and still attract them.

It's gone backwards without doubt.

The likes of Wigan, Hull and Bradford aren't the sides they once were yet i'm not convinced that the teams on the way up like Huddersfield or Castleford are that much better then they were a few years back.

Even though Saints and Leeds seem to dominate i don't beleieve they are as good as they were either. I don't look at this Saints side in anywhere near the same light as i did a few years back when they had players like Newlove, Sullivan, Sculthorpe etc in their primes aswell as players like Cunningham and Long.

Maybe the standards will now naturally rise because of the close nature of the games. That will hopefully make teams raise their levels because evry little mistake could count.

must disagree with your sig.. think we hold that title

Maybe the standards need to dip before they will rise again.....teams are coming to terms with the cap, not to mention 2 extra sides in the comp (players spread across more team, thus more youngsters in the mix).

I think we will see a better standard of games next year or the year after, that said i still think the games will be close. Look at the NRL a side can win the GF one year and then appear to struggle the next! What other sports have that type of competitiveness?

Quality on offer at FC has gone down and at Hull KR gone up.

The game goes in cycles - but surely you expect an increase in quality year on even if it is marginal.

Improvements in coaching methods would suggest continued progress.

I am not so foolish to ignore that the availability of quality players effects the comp' but over a period this would be overcome.

Perhaps it is easier to say the competition is weaker when that is what is being served up at your club!

No offence to these teams but the quality of teams at KR and Hudds wouldnt have got anywhere near the top four 5 or 6 years ago. While the teams near the bottom are much better nowadays, the teams at the top are much worse.
Its not the salary cap that is doing this. The likes of Bradford and Wigan have the same amount of cap to spend as they did back then. Plus its not as if they are losing out on big money signings to other teams

I beg to differ

But we can talk till the cows come home at the end of the day it's the current competition that presents the challenges

The main down-side of the cap is the way teams/set-ups like Hull FC are getting their youth development tapped up by teams that don't put as much effort into this department. We also had to part company with Shaun Briscoe who was a real valid member of our team and is now one of the 'enemys' best players (after they had to supply Celtic Crusaders with their team that got 'em into SL



). He would still be an FC player i'm sure if the cap hadn't stung us.'"

the standard has definately gone up. it may not be as 'entertaining' for some people but that is because all of the players are fit and fast. half backs get far less time to attack the line and tackling techniques have improved so much so that we see fewer off loads and fewer quick play the balls were teams can attack the opposition on the back foot. its all about people understanding where games are won and lost nowadays, fans of the days of old far to often dont recognise the work that goes on in the contact and around the ruck.

this has all come about with the era of super league and full time professionalism,not so much the cap. as for hindering teams with a good youth system, i think not. utilising your youth system properly is identifying which players you want to bring through, and having a balanced first team which enables you to do so. its also about making those big decisions (see Wayne Bennett's BBC article last month) about releasing senior players in favour of giving a young player his big break. i dont think the salary cap has hindered leeds exactly has it...

Excellent post.

The league has levelled up, yet Hull FC have levelled down!