I firmly believe that a major factor in the lack of intensity in many games is down to the amateurish set up at many clubs and the current training and tactics. We are years behind NRL clubs in that regard and at some clubs it is far from professional. We all know stories about friends of coaches getting conditioning jobs etc with little or no experience or qualifications. Some clubs also just have a jack of all trades conditioner who has little real knowledge of things like sprinting or weight training. Just looking at my own club, Wigan, it was apparent throughout the Noble era that our training methods were poor, as were the backroom staff and the tactics left a lot to be desired. Noble was, and still is by some, considered to be one of the best British coaches in the game and was coach of GB. However the differece at the club since he left has been stark and shown just how far behind the times we were. There has been a similar change at Warrington with Tony Smith and it has been obvious in their play.

Fast forward to this season and look at the difference a change of coach and change of backroom staff have made. There have been huge improvements in all areas due to the introduction of better training methods with equipment like GPS systems being used, better conditioning, better tactics etc. This is all with much the same team. Almost every player has been fitter, stronger, faster and shown better technique than the previous season. I know of players who have never been taught to run properly etc until this season and have got another yard or two of pace, the same can be said about techniques in the tackle that have given the defence another second or two to get back and the line speed of players in defence. You can go on and on but all these little improvements have led to a big improvement in not just the team but the individual players. There is absolutely no reason why this cant be replicated at every club. I dont want to turn this into a my club is great post but imagine if this was replicated at all SL clubs, the improvements in playing standards, intensity etc would be great, even with exactly the same players. I appreciate that some clubs are already well down this line but many arent, in particular the poorer clubs.

Clubs will easily pay £150,000 for an over the hill player but wont spend the same on 2 or 3 top quality conditioning, strength, sprinting coaches who will probably make the team much better and will produce much better younger players. Michael Maguire and Mark Bitcon are the best signings the club could have made and have proved much more valuable than an over the hill Australian. If clubs arent going to make these improvements they should be forced to use a portion of their Sky money on a better backroom set up. This would in turn increase the intensity of the game here and produce better players both in terms of there conditioning and skill. One reason I think that some imports are so poor is that they come here and dont train to the same standards as in the NRL and as a result just arent the same players. Another thing we continually look to catch up to Australia and New Zealand by replicating what they do. They innovate and get the latest training methods from NFL clubs etc. The clubs in this country should be doing this too instead of merely copying Australia and being one step ahead what they do in Australia. Yes we may still not be on a par with Australia and New Zealand but we would be a damn site closer than we are now and could at least compete for 80 mins. Yes obviously expansion and getting new people to play the game to increase the talent pool etc will help but if they are coming into the same amateurish set ups then little will change.

easy reduce the number of over seasplayer s in SL to nil, no ifs, no buts, no work arounds

until this is done the development of young players will be nowhere near what it should be to compete

also nuetral refs will help

That cant be done though can it. Even if it could if the quality of coaching, training etc is all the same then it is hardly going to raise intensity or produce a better standard of competition. It would just mean we have worse players playing in their place and standards would fall. Simply getting rid of imports and nothing else will not help.

Why does it not surprise me you are saying not to reduce the imports.

I am bet that if Wigan had kept hold of players instead of binning them for Jonny Foreigner you'd be agreeing.

Look at Eastwood and Orford. Would homegrown players just run off home if things were not going their way?

Who have we 'binned' since Lindsay and Whelan left?

Wigan now have the some of the best youngsters in the competition, at least five will get starting shirts for England soon

Here we go people blinded by club prejudices. Try getting off your high horse for a second, did I say I wouldnt reduce them? If I had my way I would reduce them to 3. That way you would get top quality imports and get rid of the likes of Phelps and Bailey who dont offer any more than an English player. However with the Kolpak players and the amount of Australian's and Kiwis with British ancestry there will always be ways around it. If its illegal to prevent it then there isnt much you can do about it.

Also I think you will find if imports where banned completely then Wigan would fare far better than other clubs but it would only lower the standard of the competition as a whole and do nothing to further English RL.

The reduction in overseas players will not magically sprout 100's of world class english players. It's a fallacy that overseas players stop the development of the best english player. I would argue that they improve those players bringing a higher level of competition and skill to SL and therefore leading to better players.

I would remove the limitations on overseas players entirely, but to complement that I would have the RFL provide financial incentives to clubs who produce players who go on to play international/representative rugby.

get rid of the french team unless you increase the number to three.as things stand they serve no purpose.

reduce SLE to twelve teams.
reduce the number of antips.
get rid of the salary cap to allow clubs to compete only for the best antips and the best RU players.
a decent transfer to clubs outside SLE to make it worthwhile producing youngsters of the necessary quality for SLE.

I agree with your comments in the first paragraph. There will always be ways round it but once clubs start benefiting it will be easier.

However, how would banning imports do nothing? It would give players from the lower division a chance at Superleague. Lunt for example was playing for Workington when the Giants signed him 2 years ago. Had he not be given that chance would he have turned out for England this morning?

Quality British players are out there but there are few teams prepared to put the effort in. The RFL rule on home trained players has already started to make a difference. Wigan, as a previous poster has said, have 5 lads who will break through soon, this should reduce the requirement for so many foreign accents at Wigan and allow another batch to come through. There are 12 clubs who should be developing at least 5 British youngsters this year (and a few French and Welsh ones!)

Are people seriously suggesting that the NL players are the international players being forced out by imports?

FFS making our competition even worse is not going to improve the exposure to pressure the top 30 or so players we need for internationals. They will just be used to either: playing as the star player in a crap team against generally crap team if the salary cap distributes skill; or just amplifying a top few teams that play against NL standard teams and occasionally against each other for decent intensity.

We need to increase the pool to select from, not just the amount that make it out.

Since 1982 clubs etc., have spouted this and and yet strangely there has been no improvement in the results!!!!!

Why does everyone keep saying we under performed? That players are a lot better than what they showed today?
Are they really any better? Or are the Aussies & NZ actually that much better than us. We can't keep saying players underperformed year in year and and justify archaic coaching techniques based on 1 game every 4 years we pull out of the bag. Michael Maguire went to Wigan this year and brought a new approach to coaching and took the same players and made them champions. This is what we need to do throughout Rugby League. A new modern approach to the game has to be brought in. The Mcnamaras, Mcdermotts and Lowes of this game need to be replaced. The brass at HQ need to be shipped out and the game needs to be looked at properly by people who want to bring the game forward.