Yeah was a year out. You got me. Although technically the end of 2027 (which it is) is the start of 2028

Shall we look at the info you’ve told us all on here about transfers?

Just saying

Probably but the floodgates are still being held back which is a positive. The marquee player rule has turned out to be a very smart move.

Pure speculation on my part I must say, I’ve no basis for thinking it, it’s just the way things generally go.

I agree regarding the marquee rule, perversely though I would like to see both go to the NRL because I don’t think either have a chance of getting to achieve their potential playing in SL.

It’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation. I’d love them to play in a comp in SL that can compete with the standard of the NRL, and then leaving would weaken the competition but it’s at the moment the only way we will get to see how good they can be.

Not sure how we can resolve that certainly not in the short term anyway.

You must remember Luke Thompson won’t ever sign for Wigan

I don't think Welsby will ever go to the NRL. Hopefully some of ours follow suit. The Marquee rule allows this and I think there should be more leeway for players that come thru a club from a really young age to first team to help us keep our best players in our competition

Well, a start would be not wanting players to go just to see how good they'd be! Keep devaluing the comp like that and it's an ever decreasing circle. Here's a radical thought: his about we fight tooth and nail to keep the best players in this comp and build from there...

I have always wondered how this viewpoint translates to people such as O'loughlin, Andy Farrell, Roby, Peacock etc.

We have many players who made a name for themselves without needing to go to the NRL to prove it. If you are a player on top of your game, you will be guarenteed an England shirt (and i would expect Smith and Welsby to hold theirs now for a long time) and eventually you will get a chanve to prove yourself against the NRL players in test series. I saw a calendar not so long ago for IRL and we are pencilled in for test series vs. Oz and NZ before the end of both players contracts if i remember correctly, along with the Tonga series just gone (mostly NRL players) and hopefully Samoa next year (again NRL players).

Welsby already seems to have made a name for himself in NRL circles as if you follow any, basically every clubs fans wanted to sign him and talk about what a good player he is. Not really sure how this came about, but goes to show.

I’m not sure it’s true most clubs fans want to sign him but he’s certainly a known entity over there. I think that has a lot to do with James Graham who has been championing him and has a prominent place in the media as well as a successful podcast.

I think it’s fantastic we have an international calendar in place and I’m confident we will turn over the Samoan team (if they come) in 2024 as I’ve also no doubt some key players will be withdrawn.

I don’t hold out much if any hope or see any signs that we will consistently challenge the Kiwis or Aussies within the next decade however.

I’ve no doubt the players you mentioned would have been a massive success had they gone to the NRL I just feel it’s likely their playing ability would have improved in most cases because they would have been tested week in week out. As we have seen the best English players can thrive in the NRL it’s the next tier down that tends to sink or swim.

The key for me is the week in week out standard of the NRL.

Obviously they have some teams that are not fantastic Wests and Bulldogs were poor last year but if I was a betting man I’d wager they would put 20-30 points on Cas and London.

One positive I do see moving forward is that in 2024 the gap between teams in SL is becoming less defined.

I think historically it’s almost been a case of mini leagues within the SL structure where you could comfortable pick your top 3 or 4 before the season started, then your mid table 6 and your bottom 2.

I do think the mid table 6 is tougher to call next year and it’s possible for teams like Leigh, Hull KR and possibly Huddersfield/Hull to transition into consistent top 4 challengers which is great for the comp and certainly assists in dragging the standards up.

Mitchell Pearce's comments on The Bye Round were interesting. He was praising the quality/intensity of the top teams in SL as NRL comparable (ish) but there was obviously a gap with the other teams.

I can still see him going at 26 when his contract ends but things can change in that time. If he becomes a Dad for instance he may not want to take a young child to the other side of the world away from immediate family.

What he has been steadfast in though and he alluded to it in his comments yesterday is that he sees SL as a very good comp and that we need to work to bring it towards the NRL level. Like it or not he is now probably the poster boy of the comp especially with him captaining England for those 2 games so it is a coup for the game in general.

And yet the best players in the recent Tonga tests were superleague only players. Go figure...

Hard to disagree with that in that Smith was deservedly man of the series and Lewis was very good too.

However to counter that we were without Young and Farnworth both of whom had a great World Cup and had both played they may well have been outstanding in all 3 games.

Which just adds proof, if any were needed, that top players can come from either comp.

I take issue with this "go to the NRL and become a better player" narrative as there is practically no evidence to support this. I can name far more who went and regressed or stayed the same than went and "improved". I put the improved in inverted commas because even then it's subjective at best in that there's no saying they wouldn't have made similar improvements whilst playing in Superleague.

Bateman's best season was his first in the NRL when he had only played SL. He has regressed year on year since then. Tomkins best seasons have all been in Superleague. In fact I'd say he's made more improvements to his game whilst at Catalans than he ever did in the NRL. Jammer and the Burgess brothers improved whilst over there but I'm willing to bet that they'd have been the Farrell/Peacock/Sculthorpe(s) of their generation if they'd stayed anyway. Williams is the same player that went. Same strengths, same weaknesses.

It's interesting that the best players in English history, almost to a man, never played regularly in the NRL. Hanley, Edwards, Sculthorpe, Peacock, Gregory, et al didn't seem to suffer internationally for not having spent significant parts of their careers in the NRL. I'd argue that some who maybe should be on that list, such as Ryan Hall, did suffer for going.

Welsby, Smith, Lewis etc don't need to "prove" anything by going to the the NRL. Just keep developing the way they already are and continue "proving" their quality on the international stage.

The only thing the English players is more international games to compare.
As mentioned our greatest players didnt need to go to NRL to "improve" they are/were already great players.
I am sure the likes of Welsby/Smith would nail it down under just like they are doing now,so no improvement required just the believe they have now in themselves.

Again hard to disagree with a lot of that.

However Hodgson took his game to the next level in the NRL, so too Gareth Ellis. They are just two off the top of my head. Hastings seems to be getting better back there and obviously Young and Farnworth have done superbly well too. Whitehead went at a young age but he also made significant improvements to his game.

The big factor is the regular tests against the Aussies/Kiwis. As Welsby said on the podcast with Graham, he has yet to play a Test match against either. This is a player who has played SL for the last 4 years too.