Rumoured to be in talks with Cronulla according to League Express. Isn't he under contract for some time yet?

Quote: Bullseye "Rumoured to be in talks with Cronulla according to League Express. Isn't he under contract for some time yet?'" Under contract until the end of 2016 season viewtopic.php?f=17&t=540697&tsmp=1365674328 A large transfer fee would be required from any prospective club for his release

Quote: Bullseye "Rumoured to be in talks with Cronulla according to League Express. Isn't he under contract for some time yet?'" Under contract until the end of 2016 season viewtopic.php?f=17&t=540697&tsmp=1365674328 A large transfer fee would be required from any prospective club for his release

I'd be pretty gutted to see KW leave but it would open up a spot for Minns or Keinhorst.

Like the ones Leeds received to release the under contract Eastwood and Buderus?

Unfortunately those two names mentioned don`t come anywhere near as good as Watkins.
I`m sure we will hear GH say that he wont let Watkins go until he can find a suitable replacement and he may have to go to Australia on a months holiday to find that person!

Is a player and another club allowed to talk without the permission of his present club?and I am saying that with tongue in cheek.

They better give us a ton of money for him if he does go

It doesn't matter whether we'd get a "ton of money" for him or not if that money can't be spent on securing a replacement. It's not like the club need the money to stop going to the wall and it's not like there are any replacements of Watkins's quality or potential available to a Super League club anyway. Any cash received would be dead money.

And as for "freeing up a spot for Keinhorst", that's ridiculous. If whoever we're "freeing up a spot for" had the potential of Watkins (not that they do) then we'll have the same situation over again in 18 months, "freeing up a spot" for the next junior.

Very depressing for Super League if true.

Can't really blame players for going but it's not a great outlook for SL.

Have to agree - where are we going to find a prospect/player as good as Watkins? ...and if we do we'd have to pay a ton of money to get one.

A sad day indeed if we were to lose young Watkins.

With the NRL salary cap going up to $7m by 2017 I can't see SL clubs managing to hang onto the best players unless the SL cap rises and players can be tempted to stay with similar salaries.

The trouble with that is that only 2 or 3 clubs could probably afford such a rise. However the league isn't that even as it is so would it make any difference?

If you allow clubs to spend enough to drive themselves into bankruptcy, they will.

Scrapping or significantly increasing the cap will just result in more of them doing it, more quickly.

Good point Bullseye.
I suppose one way to put the Australian clubs off is to demand mega bucks for players still under contract even if it means we can not recruit someone as good.
Whilst not ideal it does mean we receive 300- 400 k for a player.
No doubt Ryan Hall or Zac Hardaker will be on the shopping list along with the likes of Clarke, Bateman, Tomkins etc.
SL need to do something fast to prevent this happening.

That sounds sensible enough but has there really been a drop in the numbers of clubs getting into financial difficulties since the cap came in? I'm not sure of the difference it's made to be honest. On the field has it evened up the competition? Well pre SL there were usually 2 or 3 clubs fighting it out for trophies with one usually clearing up. The situation hasn't changed all that much since then.

Demanding mega bucks for star players is fair enough but some will just sign shorter contracts or ask for release clauses. You may hang onto a player who is desperate to leave, is that a good thing?

Not if you reduce number of teams, and merge resources on some clubs by merging the clubs. Then you can increase the cap with a stronger competition.