The problem with (English, at least) Rugby League always has been and will remain for the foreseeable future the people that run the sport off the field, be that at the RFL or the individual clubs. Incompetent and narrow-minded in almost all cases. It doesn't help that supporters of the game are very clearly divided between "traditionalists" and "expansionists", and the RFL seems to want to try and please both groups - which it cannot do if the sport is to be successful.

RL doesn't benefit from the natural economics of scale that accrue from being the national (and indeed international) sport, either doesn't want to or doesn't know how to reposition the sport towards focusing on it's international offering (like cricket and RU have done) and seems to lack the commitment to push the game into new formats or venues that might offer more casual but mass appeal (like cricket and darts).

Ironically, Rugby League is a sport that seems to take an almost perverse pride in "innovating" - yet all too often this "innovation" is ill-thought through and not given the time and resources required in order to make it a success.

The game in Australia has its problems, but after spending two weeks there over the summer simply to follow RL I have to say the way that the game is administrated, and the quality of the offering there is lightyears ahead of the way even our best clubs are setup. Potentially Leeds and Wigan might be on a par with a St George, but there's a long gap to match the offering of a Brisbane or Rabbitohs outfit. There's now a very conscious continuity to the NRL's core offering with an expectation of on and off-field excellence, whilst at the same time taking the game to new markets in a controlled and considered fashion - with adequate resources to support any new endeavour.

I have yet to see any multi millionaire claim their love for rugby league and call out the RFL to raise the salary cap. Koukash may have done this but he's a classless buffoon whose abandoned Salfords academy. Raising the salary cap won't stop Rugby League being a small time sport where the important positions are filled by small minded people. It also won't help improve the amateur game - that's where the real battle lies. The problem is people are thinking top to bottom rather than bottom to top.

It's one thing to get people to listen to you, anybody could do that if they're prepared to come out with certain comments but getting people to listen and not have a large proportion of them think you're a **** is a much trickier thing and one that Koukash failed in.

Katie Hopkins knows what to say to get herself heard, doesn't always mean that's a good thing though.

This argument that the salary cap needs raising is just daft when we have clubs not running academies, not running proper commercial departments, not running proper marketing departments, not investing in youth production and marquee signing places unused.

If all this were being done I'd be the first to say raise it. Until clubs actually start running themselves properly all that would happen is player wage inflation.

Spot on. People just think let's raise the cap and watch as all these Millionaires come knocking down the door wanting to get involved .

Whats wrong with wage inflation, i think we all accept the sportsmen in the sport we follow are under paid.
At the same time if we want more kids playing the game then the financial incentives need to be better

I'd love to pay the players multiple times what they are currently paid.

But not at the expense of everything else. Which is exactly what happened in the 70's, 80's and 90's and got us in this mess in the first place. Even the richest and best run RL clubs in SL are only doing the bare minimum in terms of investment in club infrastructure (commercial, marketing, facilities, executive management etc) and youth production. And the poorest are doing none of that.

Kids don't have any idea how much the players are paid and not one either takes up the game or leaves it because of how much the players are paid. They play it (or don't) for various reasons - fun, peers, parents, local sport. The media profile of our players and sport can have an effect on the number of kids playing the sport but how much players are paid in terms of the salary cap has zero impact.

Indeed, kids play football because they want to emulate Messi or Ronaldo, they don't do it thinking they'll earn millions doing it. That probably comes later in life.

Yep. The issue of wages comes at academy level where there is a choice for lads between a poor RL wage and going into whatever job they may have available outside RL.
However this still isn't a major issue for the vast majority of lads who, sadly, don't have great job prospects anyway.
But even then that issue really comes into investment in youth rather than a raising of the salary cap.

Yet player wages have fallen for years and we still don't have clubs running academies, running proper commercial departments, marketing departments, and not investing in youth production.

We have even seen clubs have academies, then seen the SC fall in real terms, then seeing those same clubs give up on youth production. Its almost as if there isn't a correlation between the two.

The marquee rule is a god principle, terribly implemented. The opportunity cost of a marquee signing is still massive.

Kids don't play in SL. Professional's do.