lineham not very marquee going to warrington

I just want to see the best players that I can, If the club that I happen to support can't afford them , so be it. that's no reason to stop other clubs from acquiring them. I watch quite a few Giants games but I watch a lot lot more on sky (who have bought the game ). Why should I not be able to watch better players just because the Giants or Wakey haven't got a Marque player.

Since S league started, 4 clubs is it ? that have won the grand final, That doesn't look sett to change, with or without Marque players. ( though we can hope )

It will take something along the lines Mad jack has suggested, but lets face it do we have anyone in the game with that kind of thinking, I think not , the people running League give the impression of Flat capped people who's biggest concern is that the Gravy doesn't dry up, and the majority of fans care more about their own club than about the game its self.

So while marque players might not be good for the Giants and others, It will be good for the game in so much as money goes. I would guess that for every fan who goes to a match, there will be 50 who watches a game on TV, The better the players on view , the more will watch, The fact is that should they stop watching on TV , That will be the end of league as a true pro sport.

Oh no there ARE those in the game with that kind of thinking- there were those within the RFL who proposed the draft system, and even introduced the regional academies as a first step to do so. (Now moved on to union) I was told this by someone directly employed by the RFL to begin the implementation of these ideas in those academies. Unfortunately there were certain people within the game who buried the idea- funnily enough some of the same who have voted in the marquee player idea- those that moan that the "lower clubs" shouldn't drag the "top clubs" down to their level but should do better to compete "let them eat cake......."

It's not rocket surgery. I claim none of those ideas as original. I've nicked most of them or modified them from the NHL. A sport with similarities to RL ie A small market sport, dwarfed by bigger rivals, that is trying to expand into new areas while retain it's traditional strongholds. It seems to me that RL people all talk about what the Premier League does or the NRL or even NFl, but those are massive sports with massive markets (Ok compared to RL even the NHL fits into that category). As a sport we can't afford to lose any clubs we have and yet everything always seems to be about the "big clubs" and let the smaller clubs go hang.

That doesn't surprise me at all. The people at the top both at club level and the RFL will be looking after NO 1, and more talented people go to Union.

People like yourself and 50,000 others who are committed fans, who put their hard earned through the turnstile every week have views that are totally understandable, They quite rightly want to see a level playing field, There has never been a level playing field, thought it has never had the slopes it's acquired since S league came into being,
It's just human nature, If you were a Wigan fan and you have won 20 C Cups whatever, Why do you care about whether Oldham have never won the cup.

It's generally recognised that Sky came along and saved RL from bankruptcy, It probably did, but the whole thing was decided behind closed doors, by What at that time were regarded as the 12 big clubs, There was nothing fair about any of it, such was the greed to get your hands on a slice of the pie, That's where Sky's virtual ownership of League started.

So now here we are 20 years later Still dependent on Sky to such an extent that should they pull the plug, the game goes down the Pan, And what do Sky want ? they want you and everybody else sat on the couch with your 6 pack on match day, They don't care if the stadiums are empty, they are not paying League 300 million or whatever for the fun of it.

League like every club in the game has a committed die hard fan base, but the huge majority of people who watch league have probably never been to a live game, They want to watch the best they can, they want to see the big hits and the spectacular diving tries, they are just not bothered who has got a Marque player or not because they are not committed fans like you, or even me, and they are the ones funding the game.

Marque players or not, Nothing is set to change until league gets some people with the Guts, bottle, sense or whatever, to implement ideas along the lines Mad Jack was talking about, I feel more and more that if that happens it will have to come from Sky, at the moment they are at the gimmickry stage with Video screens and things that they feel makes good TV, The long pause, is it a try, isn't it a try, come dancing sort of stile.

I took on board what you were saying about people going to Union, I agree with what you said, Union will take the cream of everything League they can get hold of. They have spent a hundred years trying to kill league, I think their thinking has changed. I think they now just work to keep us in our place, They are awash with money and they now see League as a additional source of talent .

So that's why I'm in favour of Marque players, Bit long and drawn out , sorry.

how does anybody earn the term" marquee" player and will they want to play sl?, or will it just mean one extra average aussie in the starting line up? top notch kiwi nrl players,rugby union players might come, but I very much doubt an origin standard player will want to miss out on origin to play sl..on the tv over here we have rl related talk shows 6 nights a week and quite often the older players talk about playing last couple of years in sl to top up the retirement fund,
I have read a few stories on different sites where people have said that top stars will come for 500k., the likes of thursten, smith,inglis etc aren't going to come for that sort of money.since super league started how many " marquee" players have played sl?..joey johns played a few games..Alfie langer played a few, they have been few and far between so what makes the 8 sl teams who voted for the change think they are going to get a "star"

All good questions, but are they really bothered if they don't get " real Stars " so long as it keeps them ahead of the competition, Look how excited we as Giants fans have got about this or that import, I want to watch the best I can, I enjoyed watching Hogson just as much for Warrington as for Huddersfield, It's just Giants fans misfortune that somebody was stupid enough to let him go. I like to watch S Tomkins, he is a class player.
I would love the Giants to sign a real class player, but the clubs with the money will get the cream of what comes. It's Dog eat Dog like any other business till someone with nouse changes the whole thing.

hodgson was great for fartown , but he wasn't what I would call a maquee player, was well past his best in regards to top flight footy and was a " mid table fullback" , sam Tomkins is in the same bracket, good player but after a couple of years in a tough comp he has found out he isn't the worlds best

Totally agree but he was a marque player as far as the Giants went. You are fortunate to be in a position to watch the best, we are never going to get the Slaters and so on.

I have not watched the game as long as many, two of the best centre's I have seen play are Gary Connolly and Paul Newlove, When Steve Renouf came over to play for Wigan he was still close to that level. what about Bret Kenny , Sterling etc ,truly Great players.

You are right of course , the game here will never be able to afford to bring over the best, nor do I believe SL will ever attain the standards they have in Oz, But we keep bringing them even when they are past their best, If some clubs can afford better still ,I'm in favor

brett hodgson a mid table full back if you think he was that then where do you rank grix?!

worst decision in a long time to let him go, still paying for it now the Giants... we might have won something if we kept him, warrington did in the end.

Kev Brown too but we didnt have much choice in that one.

I think when players like sterlo and Kenny came over the seasons didn't conincide so players played in both comps, I think some top talent comes over when they are getting towards their retirement, but isn't the :marquee" player supposed to be a top star as in slater, smith sbw etc, not an everyday joe who is reaching retirement, we have that system now?

Isn't a ''marquee'' player status decided by the club,thereby releasing
more salary cap dosh to be spent on the rest of the squad. this is a way to increase the cap without infringing the rules. Only the 'Big Boys' can afford the money, but as has been said before '' No big name is going to migrate northwards''

i think the clubs that voted in the marquee player was just another way to get over the salary cap hull have one new face next season in frank pritchard and possible another in krisnan inu along with ellis,minnecello,price and snyed so who at hull do you think as a marquee player all good unless the accounting in hull is done differently