I mean they could also just sign someone for 100k/175k and designate them as marquee and they don't count on the cap at all...

I’m struggling to think of a time where this has been done before.

It would seem a bit of a silly anomaly if allowed. If Gale had played in round 1 and been injured then presumably this couldn’t happen. Seems a bit daft to me. Either all players who are injured can be exempt from the cap or none.

Also I’d say if a team deregisters a player and so making them exempt from the salary cap, I think they should be able to be signed by other clubs without a transfer fee.

In 2016 we lost Shenton for the season 27 minutes in. There was nothing we could do. If the RFL do allow us to do this and we can bring someone in then why the hell not. Look at the shambles that is hardakers drug ban and maybe scrutinise that and compare that with other cocaine users in recent years.

That said, I legitimately don't see us signing anyone. We couldn't get a proper full back from the October before the season so how the hell will we get a first choice 7 4 weeks before the season?

What’s drugs bans that aren’t set by the RFL got to do with this case?

Fair enough Cas having the cheek to ask but the RFL shouldn’t even be considering it. They actually should be some exemptions in case of long term injury such as injured onInternational duty or picking up a serious illness or stuff away from rugby like being hit by a drunk driver or beating attacked by a group of guys outside a club. But picking up an injury in training is just part and parcel of sport.

Also as previously mentioned, Leeds and other clubs usually leave some cap space in case of such a problem. Cas not doing and helping them out is just rewarding poor cap management.

The only thing setting this injury apart from many others before it is the timing. It's happened before a ball has even been kicked so Cas have time to salvage the situation.
But I still think other clubs will be annoyed if dispensation is granted. Danny Addy missed all of last season for Hull KR and they just dealt with it. Walmsley missed a hell of a lot of last season for Saints, Manfredi for Wigan, even Albert Kelly was absent with concussion for a while with Hull FC.
My point is that serious injuries are part and parcel of the sport and the timing of an injury should not determine how disadvantageous it is to the club in question.

So i think Cas have really gamed the system.

They've been given dispensation but aren't using it now, instead swapping Wardle for Rankin. That is dodgy for me.

Why are Huddersfield so desperate to get Wardle back?

We're not making many friends at the moment are we?? If those are the RFL rules and we are just playing by them then fair enough but, even as a Cas fan, I don't agree with it. I don't care what anyone says about 'we are close to the cap', we always leave a little room in case we need anything mid season. Swapping Wardle for Rankin (if it turns out to be true, but the rumour is gathering pace) and replacing Wardle with Clarkson balances our squad more anyway. We have 4 other half backs that we can call upon, plus the likes of McShane, Millington that can play in the halves in an emergency. We shouldn't need cap dispensation. Let's say one of the other half options performs really well and makes the place his own, then we go out and sign someone of quality in a different position. What happens then? There will be uproar with people saying we have cheated the system and used the cap dispensation for another position. I'm not comfortable with it at all. The best thing we can do is to thank the RFL for allowing it, but state that we won't be using it. As always, only my opinion!

I wouldn’t worry about it Caslad . If the rule exists then utilise it , I’m sure fans of rival clubs commenting on Luke Gale and Castlefords situation would want their club to do the same , should it happen to one of their players .

The RFL have done clubs favours in the past , they show no consistency in the rules , So I wouldn’t feel guilty if I were you . Best of luck for the season .

I shouldn't worry about it really, and when the season gets underway theres other things to worry about, but I just believe in whats right is right, thats all. I'll be happy enough with Wardle gone and Clarkson/Rankin in.

So they got the dispensation to sign a replacement, but then did a player swap to bring in Gale's replacement leaving them free to use the extra cap space later on?

God knows, he hasn`t had a good game in 3 years and apparently his attitude is terrible - If true, great business by Cas.

Yeah - that's the idea.

Ben Harrison at Warrington. De-registered for a year (2016?) came back a month earlier than predicted. Wire tried to get him back in the squad. RFL said not until they got somebody off the cap to fit him in. Ben Harrison went to Wakey on loan for a month.

Wasn't there something on those lines when Wakey signed Simon Grix from Warrington for the rest of the season to help Wire out with their cap problems?