Things are not looking good and i dont see what can be done. how low will the standard get, and how many fans will simply lose interest before something is done? www.sthelensreporter.co.uk/sport ... -1-7934608 Nrl could be the way forward for sky sports and we just adopt an nrl team.

Things are not looking good and i dont see what can be done. how low will the standard get, and how many fans will simply lose interest before something is done? www.sthelensreporter.co.uk/sport ... -1-7934608 Nrl could be the way forward for sky sports and we just adopt an nrl team.

Meh, if players want to give the NRL a shot then let them. The majority of them come back with their tail between their legs anyway. Sure, I miss seeing the likes of Graham over here in Super League but if they want to follow just the money then I question why I'd want them in a Wire shirt anyway. We'll always create great talent, some of them will be lured away and some of them won't, the world will go round as it does. Maybe it's just because Warrington haven't really been targeted aside from Cooper yet. I suppose I'd be pretty miffed if we lost Currie to an NRL side which has to be on the cards, but it is what it is, we don't have the money to compete, and most teams wouldn't regardless of whatever we raise the cap to.

I almost see that as flattering that the nrl think players in the super league are good enough to recruit. We are always hearing how our league is second best to theirs but it just shows the talent is here somewhere. Another angle is that it is positive for the national team if English players are recruited and trained to nrl standard.

It goes both ways of course with us recruiting a lot of their players, even if they are coming towards the end of their careers like a lot of them, it is still entertaining to watch some of those guys. Take players like Kurt gidley or frank Pritchard, getting on a bit but still great players and fun to watch. You're worrying over nothing my friend

You could say it is definately on a dip in platying standard, but that might be more to do with the lack of quality Aussies coming over.

The biggest thing for me is we are currently looking down the barrel of Yorkshire losing its biggest RL team to the championship. Bradford need to get back, the lost support base there is having an effect on the game, as well as teams just not playing well at the moment, maybe due to the lack of Aussie coaches in the game.

I know we need to bring our own coaches through, but the Aussie coaches bring a more detailed and intricate game plan I feel, there are some great players about but the coaches are bit pap.

WELL we will still have most of the English players we have now because they are not good enough for super league never mind the NRL

If our young lads are good enough for the NRL sign them up to a long contract then, otherwise expect to loose them to another club. At KR we have lost a small number as they were free to move if we had faith we should have had them on long contracts & held them to it or hammered them with a huge fee or not release them.

Not much can be done due to the ridiculous decision to sign up to such a long TV deal at a time when the sports rights market is booming with BT and SKY battling for subscribers and online streaming services emerging.

Some players will still want to go to the NRL to test themselves, but a bit of a salary increase (with a higher cap due to better TV money) would make others think twice. Instead we're stuck in this situation for years.

It's not an existential threat though, is it?

South American football continues, despite the drain of talent to Europe. As do smaller leagues around Europe, despite the financial dominance of bigger leagues.

The quality might dip a bit, but as long as the entertainment and sporting drama is there people will watch. Fair enough, the world club challenge might not, after all, become RL's Champions League, but I was hardly banking on that.

But people wont watch. Not in large numbers any way. This game is choosing its own demise.

Doesn't matter if we raise our cap another half a million to a million, the Aussies tv deal will still allow nrl clubs to pick n choose who they want.

Nothing can be done, the NRL TV deal and salary cap are massive compared to super league, and rightly so, every single game is televised and the viewing figures far higher, so it makes sense they can sell the rights for more money.

England's best players already ply their trade in the NRL and more will move over, there will still be good players in Super League and it will still be an entertaining product to watch. It's better our players move to the NRL than union, at least they are still in the sport.

In terms of the drop in standard and player development, It would help if young players over the age of 19 had a competition to play in.

People don't watch in big numbers now! there are about 75000 (crude estimate) League fans who watch the sport live in the UK & has not changed much over my life time. The bigest threat is no decent international programe Plus the spiraling cost of putting the sport on at all levels.

Why?

Dutch domestic football was much stronger in the early 70s (relative to the rest of Europe at the time). Now all the best Dutch players move abroad - the league carries on.

People watched part-time RL players for decades, without too much complaint about the overall quality.

And as others have mentioned, we're not turning down opportunities that would make a huge difference to the talent drain.

If, for example, the RFL could get 20% more tv revenue, it'd still be dwarfed by the Australian deal. If we, as fans, could be perceived as a more desirable advertising demographic (rather than potentially interested in mushy peas, Romanian cars and inexpensive cider), the difference in sponsorship revenue would still only make a marginal difference.

The Papuan and French leagues can't compete with SL and in turn SL can't compete with the NRL. In football, the A-league can't compete with the EPL.

If you set matching the NRL as your objective, then yes - you should have very real concerns that SL will fail. Or consider a more sensible measure of success.

Better for the sport as a whole that players go to the NRL than to Union.

If anything players moving to the NRL could potentially be a good thing long term. English players playing in the NRL makes them better players which in turn makes the England team stronger. Stronger England team leads to international RL being a much more attractive prospect, which in turn leads to more money in the game over here.