Indeed. As happened when we did the same when we were in the ascendency. I was assuming that by "pinched" he meant "able to offer them a much better package than we were. THIS, my friends, is where your sugar daddy really comes in.

Tom Burgess is the biggest 18 year old i've ever seen, he's a beast!! it took 3-4 of our players every time to stop him. Hope you can keep hold of him and he doesn't have his head turned by Maximus Crowe.

I wouldn't say it was a much better package more a realistic offer.

And therefore a much better package!

I was about to say that Adey, but to be honest, I couldn't really think of any cast iron examples off the top of my head and didn't care enough to go and do some research

I guess the frustrating thing from a supporters viewpoint is that we don't have the money to retain the likes of Wardle. But we waste money on someone like Ah Van who won't have travelled across the world without his family for peanuts. Benefit of hindsight helps I guess, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating.

Yes this is exactly what I mean.
I remember an article in the T&A some time ago featuring an interview with Andy Lynch. In it he was expressing his concern at a lack of salary cap (or its equivalent) monitoring the amount teams could spend on their junior talent. A few seasons later and we are seeing teams like warrington snapping up junior players left, right and centre.
I'm not having a go, they are completely within their rights to offer as much as they want to these players, but I have a feeling Andy knew exactly what was to come further down the line and we are powerless to help.

Ok if you want to be picky yes you could see it like that.

Speaking of sugar daddies, Davy has just told the Shudds fans they can have season tickets next year if they sign up before 12/9...for £99 or £50.

THAT is what a sugar daddy can do for you.

This game is now all about whose owner has the deepest pockets. Must admit, I am rapidly falling out of love with it. Its no wonder so many other fans, especially those of non-SL clubs, already have.

BTW, I think it's worth pointing out that sugar daddy or not, a club still needs time to build in order to get it's playing staff and coaching staff at a level where success is in sight (though of course not in any way guaranteed). Simon Moran has been the majority shareholder at Warrington since 2003. His investment didn't immediately see a turnaround in success levels. Far from it.

Didn't they say on Sky during the Hudds game last night that the £50 ones were only for the first 2k and only for one stand, the one behind the sticks opposite the stand that's normally for the away fans. Or to put it another way, the stand that normally doesn't get much use as the main bulk of Hudds fans tend to sit down the sides

Come on Adey, you know as well as I do that that's what Rugby League has always been like. It's an unfortunate, and I agree, unpalatable, truth. I'd like to think that a club can afford to exist and compete on it's own merits, with it's turnover from TV revenue, sponsorship, gate receipts and merchandise being enough to see a club operate to the best of it's ability. But I'm afraid that we're in no position to demand more money from Sky, increasing advertising revenue is difficult for RL at the best of times never mind right now, and the only way for clubs to realistically increase their income at the turnstiles and club shops is to charge us all more money, which runs the risk of turning a lot of us going at all.

It's difficult to run a RL club, always has been, unfortunately always will be unless we, as fans (all of us), accept that maybe we *do* need to pay football style prices for things.

Roofaldo: Yes, its not like our pledge - its to try and get more fans and cash in quicker though. Mind you, his last stab at something like this was not especially successful in the long run.