OUR game will never be afford central contracts for players whatever number you want in a squad, cricket and ru have a thriving internationl scene which we will never match.

If you think Joel is a superstar then what does that make Sam, Leuluai, Richards etc. Good Joel is he is no superstar. Not even the best second row at the club last season and defenitly not the best centre.

Here is the irony of all ironies.

If England wins the next League World Cup the revenue will jump as success breeds success. But by letting 3 good players (Joel, Eastmond and Ashton) it weakens any chances of winning it. Sometimes you must take a chance and RFL is playing it safe to ensure the game stays intact and keeps clubs like Wakey and Cas in SL. When its obvious all it does by keeping the status quo is giving England less of a chance of winning a major tournament. And thats the irony were keeping Cas and Wakey in SL at the cost of the national game.

I am lookng at it from the Welsh football point of view when a team wins a few games a full house is guranteed everygame at the Millennium stadium when we struggle were off to Swansea or Cardiff City. If England wins 1 world cup your guranteed the next few games are a sell out in a major stadium.

Thats were the problem lies 2 of them aren't British and who are the other 2, Carmont and Hoffman??
Yeah Sam and Leuluai fantastic, Richards is a winger, good as he is, not a superstar.

Yup. MoS last season, try a game this year + our goalkicker.

Definately not a superstar that guy.

I am not sure if I agree with this "Who can blame the Tomkins bros if they wanna go to Union"

They are both on good money at Wigan, yes not what the RFU can give them but still on good money. If both players love Rugby League and actually are only going for the riches on offer then I am not sure if I can support that. There have been players in our game, over here and in Australia who have turned down union deals for less money because they love league and have no desire to actually play union!

Sam was in the papers few weeks back saying how he cannot understand why Union is gets more media coverage as League is the better game. I totally agree with him and was glad he said it.

Running off to Union does not help Rugby League's cause though, instead it just proves the media right.

Is anyone surprised? I certainly am not. RL is becoming a second rate sport at an alarming rate, and I place the fault at the "cloth cap and whippet brigade" who think that this is absolutely fine as long as the game between Wakefield and Castleford is a "competitive" one.

The CC is ruining the sport. Whilst we may not be able to compete with the levels of money on offer for every player, clubs should at least be given the chance to compete for their top players.

I would be staggered to see Sam in a Wigan shirt in 2013. Can you imagine the conversations as Joel drives up to Wigan for Xmas in his £100,000 car and talks of how much easier it is to earn lot's more money in London?

The only "slight" issue around Sam switching to RU is his position. I'm not sure where they would play him. Certainly not Full Back, - his running from deep will be frowned upon in favour of kicking the ball out.

Perhaps Scrum Half. In which case the transition will be harder as it's a more technical position. Better for his sake to go earlier rather than later.

I don't believe he has been offered the £400k per year as reported which would represent 5x what he is allegedly on now but I'd hazard a guess it's probably triple the amount he is on. No one in their right mind, regardless of personal reference or need to please fans would turn that sort of money down. He'll set himself up for life not just for his career years and you can't begrudge him that at all, particularly in today's austere times. We all know the biggest problem with our game is people who run it but I'm not particularly sure there is anything to stop this going through.

He is good no doubting, but at the end of the day he's a winger on the end of a good backline who kicks goals!!

If rumours are true about the suggested £400k salary compared to the £80k he is currently on I think he would be silly to turn it down. He's played for Wigan, he's won a SL and CC. At the end of the day he is a professional rugby player. I love my job but if another place offered me a 5 times raise in salary. I wouldn't be hanging about. And who's to say he can't one day return to Rugby League as a big profile player after he's had a good payday. Rugby league players have short careers and I think if anyone held it against him for taking a massive pay rise it would be a bit unfair. Over the past few years he has put his body on the line for this club and can now earn a lot more doing the same elsewhere. I'd rather him stay. he's a great player but who are we to moan and try and hold him back. Good luck to him I say.

Well put robbo

400k a year? Take the money and run Joel.

No Rugby League player in England would ever come close to earning that.

Hes won every domestic trophy with Wigan already and he has the chance to go to Rugby Union and have a 10 year career earning that. 4 million pounds. Wow.

If they are looking to throw £400k a year at Joel then what the hell are they offering Sam to tempt him away?

You and i disagree on other matters, but i agree 100% with this post.

If I were your boss and you had signed a contract with me that said five years and you asked to leave after one year you would not be going anywhere. You could bleat all day about how much more you had been offered but it would be tough luck. I would not be doing this out of spite either but to send the message to all my players you can't just walk away as soon as a better offer comes along. I would see this as protecting my clubs interests and if you went into a sulk and refused to play I'd put you on gardening leave on principle. The fact you put your body on the line over the last few years would have nothing to do with it. You contracted to do that for another four years and so you should get on with it.

There is nothing unfair about any of that.

And yes contracts can be enforced as Spurs have done with one of their players.