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?

Rammo I suspect what the RFL has done could be challenged but the club challenging wouldn’t have anyone to play should they do so. Wigan (Whelan) were going to challenge the salary cap at one point but resisted. There is a minimum wage in UK but not a maximum wage and probably would have won the case.

Maybe Wigan signing Blake Green is an indication of the standard of player we are likely to get from down under now. Wonder if there's anything decent in PNG which is going under the other clubs radar?

Maybe my idea of Ben Bolger at hooker may become a reality

Seems Andy Ellis is available and if we need a hooker he would do a great job, assuming he was prepared to come back.
Rumoured on Wakefield forum he could be going to Featherstone so it seems he is available.

Was a good player for us and id have him back like a shot. I do wonder why he hasnt been picked up by a SL club.

Super League used to be a competition in which almost every team had one Hooker starting with another on the interchange bench.

But over the years many coaches now select just one Hooker in the matchday squad and play him for the majority of the 80 minutes with the likes of James Roby, Michael McIlorum and Danny Houghton being perfect examples of this trend.

This trend away from interchange Hookers has in itself created a surplus of experienced guys perceived as "half a game" Hookers and a lot of these guys have grown disenchanted and appeared on the market over the last 12 months with the likes of Jon Clarke, Paul McShane, Scott Moore, Shaun Lunt and Andy Ellis all circulating on the market after little gametime.

Unfortunately for Andy Ellis has been the fact that his new Head Coach (who was employed after he decided to join) is very much a one Hooker man proven in his time at Hull FC and he will select Paul Ailton when given the choice.

Would he return?

Andy was considering staying at the Broncos last season but knowing he would be in his late 20s after the deal delayed signing the deal on the table offered very early on in the season in the hope of a better offer.

In a typical example of man mismanagement the club decided they had waited long enough and just pulled the deal without giving Andy a 'last chance' to sign. He was very disappointed with this. But I think his nemesis has left and he's a great bloke, I think he'd be open to returning.

There is a huge need for a new Hooker of course with Rinaldi deciding to retire late in the season and Sam Bolger released, perhaps because he played a simple passing game rather than threatening the line himself, and we suddenly look very thin in the Hooking position.

The reality for our esteemed youth coaches is there are vacancies at all age levels at London Broncos and they would love a great talent to emerge which is probably the only position they've yet to provide us with. I'd suggest that there is only one Hooker in the youth system with outstanding potential in Liam Rice-Wilson. But he is at least three years away from selection.

So we have absoultely no one with any experience, aside from Randall, at Hooker bar Chris Melling who played a few games as a youth. And Chad Randall who will go into next season as a thirty two year old veteran but who has never really recaptured his 2009 form which were his last golden days before Mac tried to make him a Scrum Half.

For me Andy Ellis represents the premier British Hooker on the market. Its no coincidence his return to the team coincided with Wakefield's uplift.

Easy
Rammo

Has Sam Bolger been released (and released from what)?

Snoopy's grasp.

Ellis is going to Fev

The one hooker policy some teams employ stems from the reduction of interchanges from 12 to 10 brought in this season, I think. That's why there seems to be a surplus. Soon there will only be 80 min hookers.

Theres nothing on the Fev forum about him. If the club moves quickly we could get him? Do you think someone told TR about him?

This is a critical position and with Randall probably in his last season in 2013 we could be signing our future No.1 hooker for 2014 onwards. If Randall is our 1st choice hooker in 2013
its a worry.