I might've been if he were consistent.

You see, earlier this season he was unhappy with Gibson, Ablett, Smith or Watkins as our options at right centre and wanted Mr Hetherington to scour the planet for q "quality" player to play there. He voiced little or no concerns about the RFL's new relaxed quotas then.

His consistency is in the fact that if we had signed an overseas player we would not have broken the spirit of the federation rules for 2009.

His argument was purely on a playing staff basis as opposed to an adherence to the rules basis.

If the rules aren't within the "law" then the spirit of the rules don't exsist imo.
In an ideal world we'd have a 25 man squad of leeds lads all from this service area but it's not gonna happen i would of loved smithy to of stayed and if it was a straight choice between him and delaney it would be smithy every time.
Lets not also forget GH has actively tried to recruite more english players with offers for the likes of atkins and ferguson to name just 2 the fact he wouldn't break the bank for 1 and wakey refused to sell the other is pretty irrelevant tbh.
The squad has been assembled WITHIN the current guidelines set down by the RFL.

That's fine to take that stance, but the current guidelines changed from the original guidelines due to the threat legal action against the RFL.

This allowed the clubs, who don't forget were the ones who ratified the rules in the first place, to break the spirit of the original rules that they had been party to. Exactly the same happened with the overseas player rule.

Which is why the "spirit of the rules" doesn't exsist imo because it wasn't a legal guideline to set in the 1st place!

Actually that is not strictly correct.

He often offered several names of English origin that he would have preferred.

I never saw him advocating specifically an overseas player.

And I never saw anything from tvoc to question Ablett or Smiths right to be in the team, far from it.

I disagree, last year (2009 season)even with the players that were at the club before the rules were brought in and taking Eastwood into account Leeds wre below the threshold for non federation trained players. This year (2010 season) they have signed additional player that takes them over the threshold and used the fact that some players are exempt as a reason to exceed the threshold. That IMO is against the spirit of the rules.

If they are EXEMPT and that's clearly within the RULES how can we be breaking the spirit of a rule which clearly states those players are exempt!!???????

Yes it is.


Preferred to the incumbents. Not preferred to overseas players that he also wanted us to procure.

I never said he did.

I never said he did. Read again what I put.

Take your fog and knit it somewhere else.

I don't think his appalling lack of support for the young English lads vying for the jersey this year is consistent with his current thinking at all.

Exactly. He deemed them not good enough. He didn't care their back ground. He wanted players he considered of sufficient quality.

That is why his new viewpoint is not consistent.

BTW, before we continue this discussion, which we're having on the basis that Leeds have broken some rules or the "spirit of the rules" does anyone have a link to the rules or a definition of what "the spirit of the rules" means?

Specifically how did this lack of support manifest itself?

I stated that Worrall and Gibson were not good enough, it now appears neither will have much of a role to play at the club in 2010 and I saw weaknesses in Watkins game that needed work but also stated that I expect him to be ready to replace Senior mid to late 2010.



The squad was understrength in 2009, a position the CEO and Club President accepted (when they had no need to) during the 2009 season. Any potential signing (Pitts, Amor and Coady) would have had to be made within the constraints of the salary and quota restrictions and I never argued otherwise.




Posted a link to the RFL quota rules earlier in the thread, the spirit you will have to use your own moral compass to attain.

The spirit of the rules was a reduction in the number of overseas players. Leeds are increasing their number. That, IMO, is against the spirit of the rules.

When the re-classification was adopted by the RFL for the 2008 season10 - Leeds 5 (Webb, Donald, Toopi, Leuluai, Lauitiiti)

2009 - Overseas trained limit 8 - Leeds 5 (Webb, Donald, Leuluai, Buderus, Lauitiiti) or 6 (Eastwood) and still places available for a squad strengthening signing if desired

2010 - Overseas trained limit 6 - Leeds 7 (Webb, Donald, Delaney, Leuluai, Buderus, Lauitiiti, Eastwood)

A retrograde step for the Champion club who previous to this had no record of breaching the cap or quotas?

Eastwood has british passport, so he is exempt.

He's exempt from being overseas trained?

Somehow I doubt that.