apparently he has signed for Gold Coast Titans, according to wigan board. Good luck to him, didnt think he'd get a move to nrl for a few years, if ever

Is it such earth-shattering news when you consider that Tansey and Thorman both had gigs in the NRL

Good luck to him. Looked a good prospect, if not the finished article

Definitely not the finished article. Still plenty of flaws in his game as a full back, especially his confidence under the high ball.

Has bags of potential though, and could be a star. I hope he comes on well in the NRL. England need some depth and challenge for places.

Yeah he wasn't great defensively but I thought he had enormous potential, especially with ball in hand. This looks like a great move for him and possibly for England. Good luck to the boy.

Not a great move if you're a Titans fan though.

Tansey - would say no, was a great player when he was in form, was gutted when he let but understandable why

Thorman - Yes.... definitely

Why? It's not like he'll be on the first team squad.

Yeah, because Zillman's been outstanding.

One of the few NRL fullbacks who isn't any better than most we have in SL IMO.

A specialist FB was needed when Campbell retired. As you say, Zillman would struggle to get a game at half our Clubs. But tbf, he's a half (not a good one mind) converted IMO.

Completely off topic but just realised Nathan Blacklock is Greg Inglis' cousin. Good basis for a rumour in a few years I reckon.

We seem to suffer in this country from thinking that every single NRL player is a superstar, when they do in fact have average/poor players plying their trade as well.

Is he? On the same side as Beau Champion as well by any chance?

Always said the same.

What sets it apart is the top 10% of their players are superior to our best players, your Slaters, Smiths & Marshalls etc..

Not sure, but you can see the resemblance now! Preston Campbell is a cousin also, that's how I came across it.

I agree with the point in general, but I made the point a while back that in the case of fullback they really are streets ahead with an abundance of quality. There's only a handful I wouldn't take over just about anyone in SL bar Tomkins, Zillman just happens to be one of them.

I believe this inferiority complex contributes to our lack of success on the international stage. But that's another issue.

Take Mitch Achurch and Evarn Tuimavave, whom Leeds and Hull KR have signed for next year respectively, for example. They are average forwards. They are not much better, if not at all, then young players these particular clubs have in their ranks.

Speaking of NRL fullbacks, interesting to see Greenshields has signed for North Queensland.

"Don't go to Hull Greg, they'll blame you for EVERYTHING bad, and not be a impressed if you do something good"

True some are average players and do nothing special, what seems to set them all apart is there far lower basic errors... Even players who come over here seem to up their mistake rate to match ours.

My dad used to blame the weather we have, but after watching all available NRL games for 3 seasons it rains far, far more there than here. Cold hands maybe?

Look at some of the English players currently over there.

James Graham and Sam Burgess were amongst the best players in SL. They've gone to the NRL and have been amongst the best players there. ([url=http://www.thekennel.net.au/forum/showthread.php?t=92679&page=24Seriously, they're loving Graham atm[/url). Same goes for Gareth Ellis.

Likewise, Luke Burgess. He was always a bit of an average/above-average player over here, but never one of the best, and he's the same in the NRL. Hasn't ripped it up but has done fairly well and is starting for Souths.

I have no doubt that if some of the best English SL players went to the NRL - Roby, Tomkins, Hall, Westwood, etc - they'd be some of the best players over there, too.

The main difference is the depth of the talent in both leagues. Whilst the top teams in both leagues are of a similar standard, the lower teams in the NRL are better than the lower teams in SL (for example, I think that Penrith/Parra are better than Cas/Widnes, but Wigan/Warrington/Saints would be up there with Bulldogs/Storm/Souths).
This reflects in the national competitions - for the English side, we struggle to replace our best players with others of a similar quality when injuries occur. However, Aus have more players to call from in this sort of situation.
This is to be expected, though. RL is a national sport in Aus/NZ, but it's regional and mainly restricted to Yorks/Lancs/Cumbria over here, so they have a much larger talent pool (and, presumably, funding as they have more people investing in the sport at lower levels).
Because of the smaller pool of players, not all of our top players come through at the same time. For example, a few years back we had some great centres but our wingers were poor/average. We now have some great wingers (Hall/Briscoe/Charnley) but we struggle a bit in the centres/halves.

The other thing that goes against us is the mentality. A lot of fans see ourselves as being inferior to the NRL and so have little faith in our national side. We're gonna struggle until we start backing ourselves more.