First off is the show piece event that is Old Trafford that once upon a time was one of the fastest growing one off sporting events with attendances rising dramatically from 1998 to 2006. Since 2006 Old Trafford attendance has declined from an all time high of 72,582 to just 68,810 in 2008.

2006 saw Hull FC contest in the show piece event for the first time which is probably the reason for the increased attendance. Still Hull FC was blown away by St Helens 26–4 which proves that the monopoly that the big four have in super league has still yet to be broken. The two Grand Finals after that saw Leeds and St Helens contesting with Leeds Rhinos winning them both.

A lot of people are probably expecting another Leeds v St Helens Grand Final. If this does happen then we need more dramatic changes in Super League than we think. Ok anyone can beat anyone in the league and the game is getting harder each year but not anyone can reach Old Trafford apart from the odd one in 2006. The odd one could happen this year will Hull KR which will probably see Old Trafford attendances on the rise but will this mean an improvement to SL?

Well Hull FC broke the contender monopoly but their haven’t done much since. Hull FC I must admit where an admirable team that year that at their best could of won St Helens at Old Trafford. If Hull KR attend this year show piece event and lose it will just be the same old story. If they win then is it thanks to the franchising and salary caps?

If Hull KR win at Old Trafford this year will it help our chance at international level more?

Lets look at this years world club champions Manly Sea Eagles who are currently residing in 13th spot after 11 rounds. This years World Club Challenge for me was the biggest wake up call I’ve ever had. I though my Leeds Rhinos should become the third team to compete in the state of origin at one point. I’ve never seen my beloved Rhinos been dismantled like that ever!

Anyways Manly Sea Eagles are struggling to keep up with the pace of the NRL this year because of the new two ref system that has been bough in. At first I though it was just a myth that the NRL has improved this year until I saw a highlight reel with my very own eyes. It was as my friend described Super League but with much better players. He couldn’t of been talking about this years super league but super league of old. The NRL no more to me resembles the bore it used to be. In fact its easy to say that the entertainment value has well and truly swapped around this year with the NRL been the most entertaining rugby league competition in this world.

Super League is in danger of becoming in danger of becoming the bore that the NRL once was. In my opinion we need to scrap the salary cap in this country as its clearly not working. This seemed even more clear in the world cup last year when we was humiliated by our southern hemisphere friends. Do you seriously think that this England elite is capable of rugby league dominance for more than one game or one test series? The state of super league is effecting our international ambitions IMO but that’s another debate that belongs in the International Rugby League section of these forums.

Now onto the overseas quota. I agree we need to bring in more English players but good English players. I would rather see a good Australian / New Zealander play on the wing than a rubbish English player. If you had a choice between Kevin Penny (one time dream team member) or Manu Vatuvei it would be of course Manu Vatuvei. Its about time we scrapped the over sea’s quota because it is crippling our competitions standard. Young English players need to learn off to best to be the best and there learning nothing off the likes of Kevin Penny!

The salary cap should be as Post said on another topic -



Its also about time we acted like French Rugby Union and the English football premiership by getting the best players in the world of either code to play in our league. I would love to see the likes of Dan Carter, Shane Williams and Danny Ciprini playing in super league. However thanks to the current climate we’ll never see such quality playing in this league thanks to the salary cap that will make sure such talent like these will get better wage packets elsewhere.

Are you happy with Super League at the moment?

Yes

yes, me too.

So you want to go back to the 90s and when Wigan were winning everything because they had more money than everyone else? Are you a Wigan fan in disguise?

Wigan don’t have all the money now a few clubs have a bit of money. Its just that the money is been restricted from been spent because we want a ‘level playing field’.

If we want a level playing field should we just scrap the league table and just have friendly’s?

Leeds, Warrington, St Helens & Wigan are a few clubs I can name who could spend more money than they’re doing at the moment without going into financial freefall.

Not forgetting the obligatory collapse when the law of diminishing returns kicks in.

You didn't read any of it then. Most likely Leeds, Saints, Hull, etc. will still be at the top because being able to spend half of what you earn. They have highest attendances, high merchandise sales, etc.

Seems you are doing a very good job of looking at the negatives here.

The salary cap shouldn't be scrapped, infact I think its very good for the league to have things restricted in this way, and it stops clubs with the money being able to gain an advantage over others. The related to income is a possible idea but would have to be very closely monitored to ensure that clubs didn't have "mystery" donations to increase their income.

On the overseas players - I have no problem with overseas players coming into Super League when they can offer something to the game and when they aren't coming over for a "final payday" before retiring. But we are at a stage now where we are lucky to have so many future prospects coming through the system at a number of clubs which has to be good for the clubs and the game in the long term and if we didn't have limits on overseas players (especially if as you suggest we scrap/change the SC) then these players would often not get their chances which would inevitably have a (bigger) negative effect on the International game, hopefully these young players getting their chances will finally see us being halfway competitive on the international scene.

i am a big fan of the NFL system. and think it can work in RL too. to the benefit of all.

essentially ticket sales are your own. but all merch is sold via the RFL all be it by your club shop etc then all money is pooled and at the end of the year is split between all the teams so the massive clubs have no financial benefit. same with TV rights.

it sounds a little extreme but its a valid system and works well, and lets face it would be easy to put into the contract of applications for SL licenses.

and if anyone from a big club asks why they should in effect subsidise smaller clubs the answer is cos we are not all glory seekers who want to hog all the trophies

I say stick with what we have for the next 10 years, we could potentially have a league like the NRL which IMO is now really exciting. If it has not worked by then, a new plan must be worked out for the future of the game in this country.

I could go off on a massive post about what I think now, but I dont see much point in going into all the arguments, its been discussed before and afterall what can we do? I will say one things though, its a long term thing.

You sound like a Goon Damo.

The 'communist cap' isn't unfair and it isn't levelling an otherwise uneven playing field. That theory is all nonsense.

As ever with salary cap discussions, the obvious example is Wigan. They weren't particularly successful but made the decision to go fully professional and spent a hell of a lot more than anyone bar possibly Leeds (Coming 1st out of 2 is not that amazing an achievement). Their success wasn't based on doing things better than other clubs, but purely on spending more than anyone else. They then got to the stage where buying the title year in year out wasn't sustainable and they went incredibly close to disappearing completely. Were it not for Dave Whelan's football team needing a 'multi-purpose' angle for his stadium planning application, Wigan RL would not now exist.

The proof of this pudding was the instant fall from grace Wigan suffered when SL began. Now they weren't able to spend way in excess of everyone else they disappeared off the map completely and the well-run clubs like St Helens, Bradford (Bullmania era) and Leeds came to the fore.

St Helens are loss making with the cap, so explain to me how they could spend more without going into financial meltdown? Don't tell me an extra 9,000 people would turn up to the mess of a ground we have now just because we had a few more star players???

If they removed the salary cap we'd see an enormous gap in quality at the top. Leeds, Wigan and possibly Warrington would be mega-teams and the rest would be scrapping for 4th from the go. The cap in this country is working, slowly. In a few years we will see the errosion of the 'top 2' as we have of the 'top 4' (Saints/Wigan/Bradford/Leeds) and we will end up with a competition where the team which develops their squad better that year and has most luck with injuries wins the comp, as it is with most of the clubs in the NRL.

The league now is basically organised by how well the clubs are run, with the youth development work done at Leeds and Saints the main reason they are consistently at the top and why clubs like Wigan and Warrington are consistently languishing near the basement despite their stature.

If you abolish the cap you are basically just turning the league into a 'Who's willing to spend the most?' list instead of a list of how well the clubs are run like it is now.

SL is fantastic, all we need is money. In this country money=hype and we have none.

i'm pretty happy with it, clubs like wakey, cas, hudds and kr have improved dramatically, the league is alot more even, more young players are getting there chance, no game is a certainty (ie quins and salford beating leeds away and saints nearly losing to celtic), no ones going bust, no ones cheating the salary cap and the standard of imports is generaly improving. Pretty much what we have aimed for (even if things arent happening as fast as we would like).

A wigan fan that cares more about the sport than his team-well done that man.

well said Sir. Possibly longer than any of us may appreciate right now, but you're exactly right - its about laying down a platform and building upwards from that foundation.

we cant put a roof on a house when we're only laying the slab!