You are spot on - and I wouldn't even be surprised if it happened before the end of contracts if a transfer fee is offered.

They have both already won all they can realistically win in RL.

And as a previous poster has pointed out (and Sam mentioned in the Daily Mail article) , the disappointment Sam Tomkins has felt at getting booed whilst representing his national team will have had an effect.

If you mean would I pay to watch RU then the answer is no. It's RL only for me. Wigan have a football team too (allegedly!!) but I haven't watched them since they were in the Northern Premier and I was in short trousers. Even though I think RU is improved in recent years it is still garbage. I have been to a Wales/Wallabies international (corporate freebie) and, in the flesh so to speak, you simply cannot get any enjoyment out of it. When watching on TV you can at least see what's happening (even if the ref gets it wrong!) but "live" it's just a pile of bodies, then a whistle for an impossible-to-see infringement, then a kick for goal.

Don't mistake me for a RU fan, though I prefer it to football. I am, however, a realist who despairs of our game ever making progress.

EDIT: Forget progress, just halting the slide would be a start.

its all rubbish about playing infront of big crowds for england! the simple fact is the money is alot better! you offered sam tomkins 500 grand a year to play rugby league or 500 grand a year to play union he would choose league every time. The thing is though rugby league is never going to offer that kind of money and if he can get that playing union then who can blame him for leaving? also the other sponsership deals will start rolling in once playing for england but end of the day its all about money and unfortunately rugby league can not( or wont) compete!

All of which leads us back to the salary cap debate. If our top players could take a sponsorship to boost their income who could possibly say that is bad for the game? Can you actually believe that RL has rules actually preventing this inflix of money into our game?

i can believe it yeah becuase the game is ran by idiots. how are we ever going to compete with austrailia or new zealand if whenever we do produce some world class talents they leave as soon as union comes along chucking mega money at them and promising them international selection. you cant blame players for jumping ship at the end of the day its a short carear and they need to make as much money as they can before they retire. I know if it was me in the same situation, no matter how much i love wigan, if union was willing to pay me 3 times my wages and then all the sponcers comming in such as range rover and big watch companies etc id be off in no time! but if rugby league could pay me enough that at the end of my carear i was comfortable and didnt have to worry about my future then id probably stay put, so unless something is done about the salary cap and especially for home grown players we are never going to be able to compete!