Basically the RFL did FA for Saints to help them try and keep Eastmond but because Tompkins was under threat they introduce, for Wigan the rules change FFS
Taken from the telegraph about the lesser Tomkins departure.

"The Rugby Football League are sticking with a £1.7million ceiling but clubs are to be given permission to make allowances for long-serving, marquee and home-grown players in an effort to prevent a drain of talent to Australia and the 15-man code.

or maybe they saw a trend appearing and decided its time to act on it to try and prevent any others leaving.
Its not ALL about wigan you know

The RFL have done this before. They gave Saints special dispensation a number of years ago when the NRL came sniffing for Cunningham and Sculthorpe.

Even as a Saints fan I personally think this is fantastic news and was needed to stop a drain of our top players. For me it doesn't matter who the player is or the team he plays for, we need to keep our top talent and this is one way of doing it.

I`m glad Sam Tomkins signed a 5 year deal, I`d much rather see him an England RFL shirt than a Union one, as for the injury prone Eastmond, he`s not in the same class as Tomkins IMO of course.

I thought they got the RFL 'Loyalty Payments' (along with Radlinski and a couple of others) to dissuade them from going down under - paid by RFL rather than the clubs?.....or was this a different arrangement?

First time I've ever applauded a Saints fan

Perhaps, finally, the bleedin' obvious is starting to sink in the morons at the RFL...waiting for Wakefield and Cas to 'catch up' is commercial nonsense.

Fairly sure the RFL stepped in to stop Cunningham going to Yawnion.

Yes , but if they are going to change rules , don't you think they should announce the changes , before clubs use them ?

For me any home grown player shouldn't count on the cap, I've said this for years.

If a team a ends up with a squad full of home grown local talent and ends up with a cap of £0 because of it, then they deserve to be rewarded for it.

Only players that haven't come through the clubs own system should count on the cap.

Spot on Dave clubs should be rewarded for producing players through their own development programs not punished.

That's fine , providing that clubs then stick to the guidelines set out by the RFL regarding scholarship numbers , otherwise you end up with clubs basically ' stockpiling ' hundreds of kids