The cap hasnt risen in 10 years. And some clubs still cant spend it. We arent a level playing field and clubs are still overspending. The SC as is, in over 10 years hasnt done one of the things it promised. It just doesnt work, is too restrictive and actively causes us to lose some of our best players, and puts us at a disadvantage to attracting the best players.

I think a points based system would be of great benefit to the game in this country. I think the first thing it will do is make average overseas players the least attractive player to a club, which is a great thing. It would mean rather than bringing over a Brett Delany because he fits under the cap, we could compete for a Greg Inglis. I think it is sad that no-one in this country is close to seeing a Greg Inglis coming over in their prime. The game would be better for it if we could. It would mean it would be in a clubs best interest to bring over the best overseas players, but also build teams how we want them, Clubs training their own and bringing them through. Also when we have a talent like Kyle Eastmond, he can earn what he is worth, rather than expecting him to accept less, out of the goodness of his heart for the privilege of playing our game. It removes the two issues from each other, the hoarding of talent, and the cost of that talent. If we are worried about wages rising massively, then put the rule regarding 50 % of revenue back in place in conjunction with a points system.


As for central contracts, the whole premise falls down because there are a limited amount of them, What if one player gets one, and a similar doesnt, the one who doesnt then goes to RU and we are no further forward. All a central contract does is say to clubs we dont trust you to spend your money how you wish, so we will spend it on players we think are worth it, they may not necessarily play for your club, but you might not have any we think are worth it but regardless, your money will pay for it.

If the purpose of central contacts is to stop our best players going to union whilst remaining fair, surely it would be simpler just to pay a massive bonus when a player plays for England, direct from the rfl and so doesn't count on the cap. Benefits the player directly but doesn't really disadvantage the weaker clubs.

Central contracts are an absolute no. Increased payments for playing internationals should help keep some in league. However with RU international crowds at 80,000 and RL international crowds at 20,000, and a lot more union international games than league in a season, the RFL could never match what the RFU pay international players, which I believe is £8000 for a loss and £12,000 for a win (remember reading a few years ago payments being increased to this so possibly even higher).