Just to be devils advoacte... we are criticising the RFL for trying to execute a plan that however much its dressed up is an attempt to keep the best players in the sport.

All this just a few weeks after criticising them for not doing enough to keep Solomona in the sport.

I dont think that that is a fair comparison at all.
First of all, Solomona "retired" from RL to play Union and it was a contractual matter, rather than something that would have been helped by any kind of "central" payment.
Of course, with pressure to sign for other clubs (both in League and Union), he would have needed to renegotiate his contract at some point and he may well have moved on anyway.
However, The RFL still have a job to do in trying to ensure that Cas win their case.

The central payments themselves are not a bad thing but, why the secrecy ?

We have a marquee player rule to allow clubs to "protect" their star players and unless there is a clear policy on central payments, that all clubs are aware of, The RFL just leave themselves wide open to criticism.

They have a habit of doing certain things and then finding the reason sometime afterwards, when they realise that they haven't quite got it right.

Why not get these things right in the first place.

If there are to be additional payments to internationals, then at least have the decency to tell the clubs what the rules are,
otherwise, it just smacks of panic and favoritism, which isn't good for the game.

there is a discussion to be had about centralised contracts for Tomkins, Clarke Currie and Watkins (?) and others.

If UK RL want it then the RFL board should take soundings and then present papers to RFL council and to SLE for discussion and voting. Theses discussions should include the amounts of money and the criteria for such decisions being made.

Instead we have had secrecy and 'somebody' at the RFL given discretion to hand out money as they see fit. Clubs have been kept in the dark and the notion of a level playing field is a joke.

The RFL Non exec directors are there to hold Barwick, Wood, Rimer , Draper et al to account on behalf of the game. Did they know these payments were being made?

Good on Aaron Bower for exposing this nonsense.

Solomona was lured to RU for cash. A central payment from the RFL might have tempted him to stay - we will never know. I don't know why you think it was just contractual matter.

I personally don't have a problem with "topping up wages" to keep the best players in the game. We've all been moaning how crap SL has been, falling attendances, utter dross in terms of quality on the field etc. The fact is, the better players we want to keep in our game tend to play for the bigger clubs. I know people will scream favoritism, the big clubs are always getting a helping hand etc, but just to make a point, the bigger clubs who are benefiting from this, in the main, are the ones forking out £100k a year on a reserve grade to benefit developing players.

What i don't agree with is the secrecy. With the absolute circus with my club, what we need is transparency. I believe the RFL have addressed the issue of player drain with good intentions, but end up shooting themselves in the foot. Just be honest and transparent with people. You're always going to get people who disagree with you, but if you're honest and tell them what you're doing and why you're doing it, people will get on with it,

That I agree with.

We are back to why the "extra" payments are being made.
If we are going down the route of central contracts (as they have in Union or Cricket), these are given to players in the National team and as such, they have to be available to play in those games and give priority to Country over Club.
Certainly, in Cricket, the players are almost full time international players and play very little club cricket (unless there is a loss of form).
Even in Union, "National Service" impacts heavily on their availability for regular league games and the contracted players have to play for Country over Club.
The League situation is massively different.
The international program has little or no impact on the domestic games (unless a player is injured) so, why are certain players attracting a "top up" payment's and what do the clubs have to do to gain the extra cash.
We cant have a situation of arbitrary payments to some England players and not to others and should this go further down the shaft and be paid to Academy Internationals.
Logically, overseas players should be exempt from extra cash as they have already made the move from their native country.

The whole situation seems unclear and it shouldn't be.

Finally, if I was Shaun Wane or Tony Smith etc, I would be telling The RFL that all my players had been approached and request a top up for each of them but, this would give those clubs a substantial advantage over their rivals.

Corrupt is a pretty far fetched word to use.

They may not be very good but any ruling like this would be presented to all the clubs to vote just like the marquee and just like the league structure.
And I can't see them getting any personal gain out of it.

England RU played something like 13 games last season, that's a substantial commitment for players in the squad, especially as they have a domestic league, a domestic cup competition and a European competition. Under those circumstances central contracts make sense.

The problem with central contracts in RL is that in most years there will be 4 or 5 England internationals and it could end up disproportionately supporting a small number of clubs who are already the dominant ones in the league. I'd prefer it if each club could be offered a set amount against a nominated marquee player who is eligible for England.

It seems the RFL have learned nothing from the criticism they received after loaning Bradford £750,000 behind the backs of all the clubs.

My sympathy for the call that they're not fit for purpose continues to grow

Are you just rolling out the old "not fit for purpose" trope, or do you actually know what the RFL's actual stated purpose is, and you also have evidence where they are not meeting it ?

Aren't Parliament discussing this week whether or not to hold a vote of no confidence in the FA? Do you think they can hold one for the RFL?

Wow, take a look at our shrinking game and you tell me you've got confidence that it's leadership are fulfilling their role