If one of the NRL's biggest and most famous clubs owned by Hollywood legend Russell Crowe cant keep Sam Burgess playing in the NRL how Would Salford keep him in Superleague...?

Plus its not inconceivable that maybe four clubs max could tempt the real big names into Superleague. If they happened to be Sonny Bill, Slater, Inglis, and Hayne, (and probably a few more before you came to Burgess - as i'd rather have James Graham personally.) where would that leave a disgruntled Sam Burgess because no one has picked him up..... still out of Superleague and still off to union. we cant buy them all....!!

And if you think the likes of Lee smith going to some second rate union club is superleague being a feeder for union then I'm amazed. I've not got my head in the sand about the threat from the NRL or Union but the current crop of youngsters knocking about at all clubs is truly amazing from the young hooker and fullback at Catalan to the boy Burgess on the wing at Wigan to 17 year old who scored a hatrick for Hull FC against us at the weekend.

should we lose all these for a 32 year old Cameron Smith on half a mill a year???..... not for me.

throwing good young kids in early is the only thing Superleague has in common with the NRL we shouldn't stop that for anything.

I do think its time the Cap was increased though, you can bet Nigel Wood's had a pay rise in the last few years I think the players deserve one.

An obvious way to combat the drain of players too the NRL or RU is a system like the cricket board use where you select a central squad and put them on contracts over and above what the counties (or in our case the clubs) pay them.

Get rid of the separate nations and return to a GB set up too make things less complicated, pretty sure someone like Daryl Clarke who is one of the best young players I've seen in many a year is under the gaze of both the NRL and RU so a central contract too boost his wages would hopefully prevent him jumping ship.

I'm totally perplexed with your response. None of your points are really a counter argument. As for Lee Smith I can think a far better example than him. Kyle Eastmond for one, who'd be a top star in SL now if he's stayed at Saints.

The reason top quality players leave Superleague is not solely for the money, it's because Superleague is now a second rate feeder competition and players want to progress on a much bigger stage. Unless something changes to improve the overall standard and profile we risk losing a lot more of the emerging talent we are working so hard to develop.

I'm sorry if I struck a nerve with the 'feeder competition' comment but the reality is we are.

Why is it that everyone who opposes a Marquee allowance seems to throw the same old argument that they would rather develop our own youth.You do both.
Has Wigan signing Matty Bowen all of a sudden meant that they have scrapped their youth policy.Off course not.
Wire are signing Simms so their academy is now a thing of the past.Total nonesense.
Allowing each club to have a salary cap exempt player is about promoting the game and making it a more attractive proposition for sponsors,TV and the Fans which would only help the clubs financially in the long run.
They will be better able to retain the very best British talent rather than losing it to NRL or RU.Off course some will still leave for the challenge but more will stay if they can secure a financial future for themselves and their families in this country.
Its about giving the clubs options and oppurtunity to compete financially.

The problem for clubs who do develop quality youngsters is how do you retain them all when their contracts are due for an upgrade yet you are still having to manage the same salary cap.It inevitably means that players are forced out.How many young players who are late developers do we lose to the game because of financial restrictions on the clubs.

Yes and for all the 'so called' big clubs supporters preaching about a successful youth policy, tell me how many have produced their own world class halfbacks since the days of Gregory and Edwards?

If the Marquee system is to prevent the drain of players to the NRL and RU then it shouldn't be to allow clubs to sign players. It should only be used on home developed players. The RFL could even rule that all players developed by the club are off cap. This encourages teams to develop their youth. And if the home developed players are off cap, then clubs who have a lot of players they've developed themselves will then have more room under the main cap to pay for big stars.

I get the feeling Marwan wants the marquee player exception so that he can use his financial clout to improve Salford quickly. He doesn't strike me as the sort of bloke happy to wait for investment in youth to pay dividends. That's fair enough I suppose, he wants to use the advantage he sees Salford having over other clubs. But he shouldn't be surprised that other teams don't want to let him just buy his way to success.

I like the central contract system in RU and Cricket as well. The RFL might think there are not enough international games to encourage it though. They'd also have to think what to do with Catalan and France.

I think the problem Marwan Koukash has is due to past financial constraints and the draw the bigger clubs have attracting the best young kids, it leaves Salford way behind other teams. I think as owner of the club with money to spend he wants his team to be as competitive as possible, as soon as possible. I'm sure the club are now investing much more in youth but as Iestyn Harris has said it will be at least 5 years before the club see the benefits of this.

I think the Doc wants a marquee player as a crowd puller to stir more interest in the Salford public and attract some dormant fans back to the club.

I don't think there is anything like the problem in RL as say Football with big clubs poaching youngsters at a very young age (it tends to be after they break into the first team). And Salford hardly have a terrible recent history of producing players out of their academy. I do hope that there is good money being spend on the youth development at Salford though. If there is then the Doctor should be opening his gob about that a bit more rather than complaining that other clubs are blocking his plans for SL domination! Like I said, he surely can't be surprised that other clubs don't want to be steamrollered by his chequebook.

Ah - but what we do produce is quality - Ratchford, Turner, Sneyd etc

Lol. I thought I was being clear. I agree, I was saying that Salford have had a pretty decent recent history of producing good players.

The Sneyd one is interesting though. Wouldn't you rather have have kept Sneyd rather than signed Dobson? Right now I'd be pretty gutted if we lost Clark from Cas even if Cameron Smith was coming the other way.

Good statement from McManus btw www.sthelensstar.co.uk/sport/sai ... s/?ref=rss Of course I'm going to say that as he pretty much has the same view on this as I do!

Good statement from McManus btw www.sthelensstar.co.uk/sport/sai ... s/?ref=rss Of course I'm going to say that as he pretty much has the same view on this as I do!

Butcher
I agree with pretty much everything you've said except the last paragraph.
Maybe we need to do both.
Eamonn's viewpoint is well argued but what the game overall needs is 'box office' appeal and with the greatest will in the world the home grown stars won't bring in the publicity/sponsors/punters that a David Watkins or current Union star would.
My point is highlighted that ,as well as Locke played on Saturday ,the headlines and coverage were disproportionate to the effect he had on the game. I'm not for a minute denigrating his performance but the headlines were tied in to who he was and where he came from. He had a great game but so did a few unsung teammates.
There has to be a place for a marquee signing and,because of the high cost involved,it's best dealt with outside the cap

Like Butcher says above it's OK for McManus not to want change, the sun has shone on him and Saints for many decades with numerous trips to Wembley and the Grand Final. Top quality young players are falling over themselves to sign for them and they have a production line of youngsters waiting in the wings.

McManus isn't stupid and knows that an owner of a club willing to throw mega bucks at a club is a real threat that could impact on their future success.

As I said yesterday the underlying reason for a no vote is based purely on self interests and nothing else.