TR used to pull a few rabbits out of the hat before with his contacts. There are sure to be some quality players on the fringes especially young props with something to prove, and theres a few on that list. But we were over the quota with Hickey and no quota player has left have they? Don't think Temata was on quota.

There are always Aussies with Maltese, Greek and other EU passports, I hope we check thoroughly if we get one! There may yet be some pickings from the Bulls if they go down!

Yes, but HKA would have these marked down allready surely.

I doubt the Bulls will go down but if they did we are always a last resort for any player Up North because of the cost of living etc,.

The RFL operates two lists. These lists are independent. Each player can count on both lists, either one, or neither. Each list can contain a maximum of 5 names per Super League club.

These lists are based around where you were trained and passport.

Temata, Dorn, Randall, Bryant and Witt are off all registers and Howell will be from December 2012 (after he applies having been here five years) so we don't need to think about them. The long serving guys have been there that long that they bypass all the rules. Witt and Bryant also have complete immunity from the rules for the duration of their initial contracts and conveniently they will have been here long enough to stay on after it.

The rest of the overseas players are on at least one if not both the lists.

To the best of my knowledge we are full on the 'Non-Federation' Trained list because Gower, Bailey, Kaufusi, Robertson and Rodney were not trained in the UK.

However, there would be an opportunity to sign players aged between 16 and 21 from overseas who are not yet with a 'STATUS' because these would count as being 'Club Trained' just like Thomas Leuluai was.

In terms of the Quota status, I'm certain that Bailey, Robertson and Rodney count on the quota. But Howell should be coming off the register and obviously Hickey has left the club, so that would give two more spaces.

In essence we could sign two players aged between 16-21 from overseas or players who count as being federation trained. But we cannot sign senior Australian players who have been trained in the Australian youth system with an Australian passport i.e. Jarrad Hickey.

It is all a bit confusing but there is a bit of room to manoeuvre.

But as Hull KR have found if you build a club with a load of 'Karl Temata' style players who bypass all the registers it does not mean you can then replace them with similar players who again bypass all the registers. It's not that easy.

Cheers
Rammo

Hi Mark........sorry but I do not understand how we might have places for 2 more, when you already stated that the above 3 + Foosi and Gower takes us up to our limit. Hickey was never signed, but due to the admin cock-up we had a moral obligation to pay him. I understand the Howell argument and the 16-21 year old status thingy......am I being thick?

I doubt we could get a quality prop at that age. Maybe a decent Hooker though

Hi Under the Sticks

Let's work through the logic.

The club attempted to register the following players against the two lists in 2012:

--- Quota Players ------------ (Bailey, Robertson, Rodney, Howell, Hickey)
--- Non-Federation Trained --- (Gower, Bailey, Kaufusi, Robertson, Rodney, Hickey) *ONE TOO MANY*

The RFL prevented the registration of Hickey because the limit was five per list.

Thus the situation becomes:

--- Quota Players ------------ (Bailey, Robertson, Rodney, Howell) *ONE MORE ALLOWED*
--- Non-Federation Trained --- (Gower, Bailey, Kaufusi, Robertson, Rodney)

David Howell must now be considered.

Howell does not count as 'Non-Federation Trained' because he arrived before the 'Federation' regulations. But he was not in the country for five years so has no automatic rights to work here. However in December 2012 he has been here five years. So this is now the scenario.

--- Quota Players ------------ (Bailey, Robertson, Rodney) *TWO MORE ALLOWED*
--- Non-Federation Trained --- (Gower, Bailey, Kaufusi, Robertson, Rodney)

Thus the opportunity for the club is that they are able to recruit two overseas players because there are no legal barriers to them being allowed to play in the UK.

But we need to sign two overseas players who are either EXEMPT, Club Trained or Federation Trained r we will be filling up a slot on both registers. That would be like signing two more Hickeys.

There are ways to boost the squad

We could sign under 21s from overseas as they would count as 'Club Trained' once they joined our system e.g. a 19 year old Aussie

We could sign old players who arrived prior to 2008 thus being 'EXEMPT' and already based in the UK e.g. Ben Jefferies, George Carmont, David Solomona

We could sign players who are 'EXEMPT' due to legal challenges against the RFL like the three Henderson brothers who grew up in Australia

Cheers
Rammo

Uts isn't the only one struggling with this--- Quota Players ------------ (Bailey, Robertson, Rodney, Howell) *ONE MORE ALLOWED*
--- Non-Federation Trained --- (Gower, Bailey, Kaufusi, Robertson, Rodney)
'"

No wonder we got it wrong wih Hickey. It does appear to be complicated.

I can`t do the linky thing, but the `Sun`s` journo Nosey Parker is claiming that we have signed utility forward Tommy Lee from Huddersfield???

wasn't he convinced we were going to Medway!

Surely you are not suggesting that journo`s tell porkies

He is down as a hooker on the Super League web site. His stats do not look too promising and he has not played many games for Huddersfield......previous clubs listed as Wakey and Crusaders. Think I will put the Champer`s back on ice.

Wasn't he at the Black and Whites?

Hi Torbreck,

Craig Gower must have a dual Australian/Italian passport which makes him a member of the European Union and gives him the right to work anywhere in the UK thus bypassing the quota.

Antonio Kaufusi was born in Tonga and benefits from the Cototonou Agreement or whatever its called which gives people from 82 states including the Pacific Islands free passage to work where they want. But even if he had no eligibility I don't think someone was going to stop him crossing the border

The gist of all this complexity is that England has pretty much an open borders policy because the powers that be are daft enough to open the borders to anyone be they European, Commonwealth etc etc. Then the few that couldn't get in got the laws overturned also such as Europeans outside the European Union etc.

The RFL can't go against the law and precedents so it has tried to impose additional restrictions based around 'training' but of course you have everyone already here threatening to sue if it impacts them, foreigners living here and being classed as British, ancestry claims and anything else that gets them in. I suspect the RFL cannot afford a challenge to set a precedent which takes away the rules entirely so will open the door to any reasonable push.

Cheers
Rammo

PS In my opinion if the player does not declare himself eligible for England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland or France then he cannot be anything other than a Non-Federation player. It would be simpler to just have a single list of e.g. Eight Non-Fed players. But even if it was that simple why do I still think we'd try and sign 9?