Don't be so pessimistic, give the RFL another 80 years or so, and then Wakefield and Cas will 'catch up' and then we'll have such an equal competition that the crowds will flock back in their thousands. Just think of the sacrifice you're making today so that your great grandchildren can watch Wakefield rise again. Hail Nigel Wood, may his reign last a thousand years. ( p.s. can I have a job at the RFL please ? )

BTW I'm not against raising the salary cap, just against getting rid of it completely.

I never said clubs werent better run now than every before (in fact they would struggle to be run any worse Than the were immediately prior to SL. We did however, at that point have fewer overseas players and more british players in our league.

And I have no problem with us having some kind of levelling out levers. I just think there are plenty better, plenty which are more focused and flexible than an arbitrary wage limit.

Squad limits of 25 with a minimum of 15 which have come through your academy would stop a club buying up all the talent. The points system floated in Australia. A squad of 20 to fit under a £1.2m salary cap and 5 marquee players whose salaries don’t count as examples.

I'm all for some flexibility that rewards clubs that work the hardest to bring through young players (note I say work the hardest, not pay the most).

I'm not against allowing a kind of "cap free" idea for marquee players either, so long as we didn't go overboard. Maybe a maximum of two per club with the rest fitting under the normal limit, with the rules to be voted on every 2 years?

As it is I suspect some clubs already have ways around the cap to ensure players are paid by third parties unconnected to the club but known to a club owner. The RFL can only audit a club and not another individual or company.

I think the real key is to attract money into the game as a whole, for many clubs such flexibility is a dream. It's a bit of a chicken and egg situation, big money backers will come with a big profile game, but only international success will get that. But to get international success we need more kids playing the game and getting good coaching and coming through the system.

Jonathan Davies was a RU half back who played wing and centre in RL - Quinell struggled to get in a Wigan side.

In RL you need half backs to break the line and create things - that is the last thing you want in RU as you would lose the ball.

RL is a territorial game - RU is about keeping the ball the only thing they have in common is the shape of the ball and the first name. Centres and wingers play a similar game in attack but it is the defence where RU players would struggle.