My word, I can hardly believe it but Hull KR can put 17 Englishmen on the pitch too!

Briscoe
Colbon
Welham
Latus (S)
Fox
Cockayne
Spaven
Wheeldon
Hodgson
Watts
Cook
Netherton
Murrell

Latus (J)
Mariano
Taylor
Beaumont

Fact is in order to get around any potential legal issues the changes were made to the rules regarding who was classed as a quota player.

As long as the clubs stick to those rules they can – and in my opinion have an obligation to their fans to – bring in and retain the best players they can, regardless of where they are from.

Rovers need a stand-off – if Blake Green is the best they can get within the rules and salary cap restraints then I’m happy

Rovers need a prop - if Willie Mason is the best they can get within the rules and salary cap restraints then I’m happy

In coming years the numbers of non-english players on Rovers books will have to reduce in line with the rules. The challenge then will be to manage the decline of foreigners by bringing through the talent that has been nurtured in the academy. At that point, if the quality coming through the ranks isn’t good enough I will not be happy!

in a couple of years times those players could mature in too a good outfit and then challenge.

Im unsure where this pool of Super League standard English players is?

Do you know of a trick wherein a first class academy and group of young British talent is granted upon promotion to SL? Because if you do please show me.

We are making a long term investment in producing our own players and this is coming into fruition now.

As for our club not taking a risk on English players?

Paul Cooke
Scott Wheeldon
Danny Ward
David Mills
Josh Hodgson
Shaun Briscoe
Peter Fox
Mike Ratu
Matt Cook
Liam Watts
Liam Colbon
Chev Walker

Few risky ones in there im sure youll agree? Coupled with first team outings for Kris Welham, Scott Spaven, Frankie Mariano, Sam Latus and Scott Taylor. We're just about where we should be with progression.

We should put a cap on over 30s Aussies and as i don't mind players in their prime coming over to SL and playing e.g Lyon because they add so much to the competition but these journeymen who come over and add nothing can buggerr off

which players?

other clubs have done it.

And it would be fairly simple to bring your overseas players down, maybe you could have given a shot to Andy Ellis and got rid of Ben Fisher, maybe even planned ahead and brought in a McShane?

Maybe spent some of the money you are paying Webster to buy Charnley? or sign Ash Gibson?

Look at Danny Allen or Jamie Rooney, Mcnally instead of Blake Green, or maybe even stick with I'anson.

its not rocket science, clubs bigger and better and more prestigious than yours have been comfortable taking projects and moulding them into something, maybe if the Hull KR wasnt 'when in doubt look to the NRL' you could find the next Keith Senior, Shaun Lunt, Danny Kirmond, Richie Myler, Ade Gardner, Rob Purdham



they werent risks, you havent plucked a superstar from obscurity, found a diamond in the rough, all those bar Ratu, Hodgson and Watts were established first team players at established clubs.

And Bar Welham none of the others have come close to establishing themselves.

I wonder which 23year old british halfback who has played 33 first grade games in his career is being released for a 23 year old Aussie Halfback who has played 39 first grade games?

as i said the job of the Hull KR CEO and coach is to make sure HKR finish as high up the table as possible, its what the fans want, its what the sponsors want and it is what the RFL want (see license points for being competitive and drawing a crowd)

Looking at how our scholarship and academy programs are progressing I am confident over the next 5 years we will see more and more local lads becoming stars, until then I want the club to be competitive and if that means 10 NRL players and 15 English players in teh 1st team squad so be it. If we finish lower than 7th next year then I will come back on and agree it was a waste of money/opportunity.

and what about say Castleford who looked Arundel, Walker, Westerman, Owen, Shenton, instead of overseas players and finished outside of the play-offs because Hull KR 'wanted' to finish higher up so they claimed dispensation and relied on overseas players? is that fair?

as i said, Hull KR only benefit from relying on overseas players because others dont

You are aware that senior British players take wages and eventually retire too? Or are you suggesting that we should have gone without senior players, full stop, irrespective of where they came from? You see, a team which cannot challenge it's opponents is what is known as 'rubbish'. People are reluctant to pay to watch rubbish for periods of 2-3 years, which can affect a club's financial position and prevent them from investing in developing young players, meaning they remain rubbish.
As for us really struggling - Mason and Clinton will free up quota spots when we lose them. For the rest, we'll have to make our own, and their is significant ongoing investment in that area, or compete in the fed-trained market. This will either be fine if assumptions about lack of opportunities for young players underlie British RL's problems (8 club-trained players in every squad from next year) or will be an issue for everyone, if there isn't the raw material.

so which of those players you listed, bar Ratu, Hodgson and Watts, were unproven