It is awful, but does the fault lie with the club or the rules that allow it? I believe half the problem is that the RFL couldnt stop it due to laws about rights to work in the uk etc?

It lies with HKR-Look at last year when they were putting players on and off contract during the season to stay within the lose rules.

Tbf Mason was entitled to a Tongan passport and indeed now has one. Unfortunately the country stopped issuing passports for a while due to difficulties making the transition towards democracy. That was incompetence and bad luck, rather than connivance.

Murrell qualifies as club-trained - a player like him wouldn't in the future (see also Lee Briers with Wire and several others elsewhere), but the rules were more generous for existing players, when they were first brought in. If he left the club, he couldn't return as club-trained iirc.
Lovegrove almost qualified, fwiw, but yeah - that is a dispensation.

The Crusaders collapse and the presumed change in status for players like Heremaia and Dobson (here before feb 2008, but not in feb 200icon_cool.gif, is why we're able to still have 11 despite losing 3 exempted players in Newton, Vella and Fisher, if you're interested. Whether we [ishould[/i and why is open to debate.

I don't want to jump on the bandwagon of slating a club everytime they sign an overseas players, al clubs do it so no one can really moan.

BUT

11 is far far too many IMO, and to be honest, i feel HKR will struggle next year as well.

It just doesnt say much for their youth development really. Other clubs are making the effort there is no relegation anymore so the risk is low, no excuses really.

Fine, lets get rid of the Salary Cap and actually go out and bring in the best players of the world. Lets take the model of PL and sign the best players in the world and make our league the best league in the world, lets have the best players in the world, whether English, Irish or Australian, whether League or union, lets have the biggest names and the best players in Super League. Lets sell ourselves as the PL does as the biggest and best football league in the world, hope sponsors want to be involved in that at a level which pays for the wages, and enough people come to watch.

Because thats not what we are doing at the moment, we are picking up park players and NRL reserve graders to fill the squads of clubs who have avoided their responsibility to the wider game, that in itself stops us having a product as good as the NRL. In fact it guarantees us a second rate league.

If we are going to fill our squads with overseas players lets at the very least fill our squads with the best overseas players rather than the dross we are seeing being brought over.

There is a SL rule which states a club must have eight club trained players in their squad of twenty five.
They should make that eight in the game seventeen. To rise to ten in the 17 by the time of the next round of issued licences.
Those who can't match up, tough. They've not been doing the job they should have been doing!
After eight in the 17, then start discussing how many fed and non fed trained.

Jack Spencer to Sydney twitter.com/#!/JackSpan90

Jack Spencer to Sydney twitter.com/#!/JackSpan90

I feel Bradford will struggle, again.

Aaron Ollett, Nick Johnson, Chris Heil, Liam Salter & James Greeen have only just being promoted to the 1st team ready for 2012 so why your counting games and quoting these players is a bit poor IMO. Rich Beaumont has being out most the year with a serious injury and still showed enough promise to be offered a two year deal at the end of the season. And why are you not counting Taylor as a 1st team regular. He played 22 games this season.

Still your okay to comment because wasn't it Hull FC that was the only team in SL to not debut a youngster this season?

Despite Hull KR's U18's losing three games all season? It's taken time but surely the fact we have 11 overseas players shouldn't be a reason to knock our youth development. Christ where sending 20 youngsters to Australia in January which surely is pretty proactive. We know we have our fair share of overseas players but we also have our fair share of homegrown players and when we beat yourselves towards the end of the season we had 6 Homegrown players in the squad

You have more than your fair share of overseas players and not enough homegrown players. You seem to be looking at having 6 homegrown players and 11 imports in your squad as an achievement. Its unbelievable how easy to please you are.

Hang on in fairness you can't have it both ways?
Though hopefully these lads do push on and become the backbone of your side... Same with any other club!

Translating u18's into the first team is a different matter . HKR arnt the only team to have been slacking on the youth development side but 11 oversea's players is very OTT. I know you say it's taken time but you've been around a few years as a club