I reckon if you quizzed all the people who watch an England RU game at Twickers more than half wouldn't have known what happened during the game.

When it pans to the crowd you have an upper middle class couple in their 40's wearing wax jackets or a cricket jumper wrapped over their shoulders with a floppy haircut actually turn around from chatting to Giles and Gloria to actually realise there's a game on and their on TV and start singing "By jove, ho rah, swing low swift claridges, coming 40 acres by jove'. Rah, rah, rah" Much like John Inverdale.

I thought this was a stereotype until I saw these types (of which there are many). A lot were seen on the car park of Twickers. Parked up in their brand new top of the range 4x4's, back doors open....chairs, blankets, straw picnic boxes quaffing and drinking Pimms / Champers.

Lets just say, theres more of those types than there are the Northern sterotype of bloke stood at rugby league events with whippet, ferret on a string, betting slip in one hand and pint of bitter in the other, woodbine in corner of gob!

In all seriousness I think the time has come for both codes to amalgamate. Come under one banner of 'Rugby'.

The hybrid rules should be 4 points for a try, 2 for a conversion, 1 point for a drop goal, 5 tackles and a play the ball (defence 10 metres back), no line outs, 13 players a side and uncontested scrums.

I know I'm going out on a whim with all the die hards but I think the time has come, thoughts?

During the WC I chatted to more than several Tarquins who hadn't a clue what they were about to see (the walk down to the Leyther's ground sticks in the mind with a bunch of students "down from London" - why is it always "down" from London - I digress - & me & a bunch of others explaining the rules).

I wonder what's been done to cultivate those who were seeing the game for the first time. Or is it the depressing fact that the RFL have lost the initiative yet again & any converts have been left wanting & will simply gravitate back to the better organised & promoted (if mind-numbingly tedious) other code.
Not helped of course by the Barnet Pony Club being the only example south of Warrington they've got as reference.

I think if he's in with a shout he'll be in RU for the 2017 Lions tour to NZ. You ask most British and Irish internationals and they will place a Lions cap above any other they can achieve and to be a winning Lion would give you legend status for life in RU circles.

This.

There is more to this than just the player and any ambitions he may have. He may not even make it at RU.

Someone earlier said he's on £2m a year. Seems rather high to me but if he is they all can't be on that and it is a huge investment in the player. I reckon it has as much to do with publicity and selling the game as it does enhancing England's chances in the RU World Cup.

The NRL was not powerless to resist the approach financially. Their salary cap like RU doesn't count sponsorship.

It is a lack of willingness to pay your best stars just for being a star that makes the game open to such approaches.

It has not exactly gone down a storm with other RU clubs (but I expect them to close ranks) and it might not have done with other NRL clubs if his current NRL club had continued to benefit from his services due to a special sponsorship deal or whatever.

The difference is one sport clearly doesn't care about such things.

I've heard Owen Farrell is on around £200,000 a year plus £200,000 a year England Central Contract plus his third party sponsorship deals. Looking like £500,000 a year and he's a young lad although still an England regular, his club wages will rise overtime.

Agreed. Why not th top 4 from SL and top 4 from the NRL have a knockout tournament at the end of each season, or something of that nature. Like a champions league type tournament.

Remember you don’t even have to win your own domestic league in footy to be champions of Europe. So why not do something similar with the WCC?

I think that would be great for the game if we staged it @ Wembley similar to the RLWC semis for the Big Hit fixtures.

This would definitely be a step in the right direction.

That sort of money ought not to be out of the question in the NRL. Or even here given the ruling only £100K of a home grown players wage counts on the cap.

As Farrell is an England player he is the exception rather than the rule and there are not many England players.

So the fact we don't as a sport seem to want to protect Burgess and others from them is our own fault. Bath have not signed Burgess to play just for Bath and I doubt any RU club would be able to afford him if it were not for the England angle and the cash that brings.

This is not the same as us not being able to hold onto Sam because an NRL club had more money.

It's rather worrying to wonder just how much RU central contracts can draw on. As you rightly say, the English RU clubs could never afford to do it on their own.

Some of these younger players now (or the most talented anyway) have new options open to them that their predecessors can only dream about:

Option 1

£ SL Only - up to £100k pa
No money received from central funding, no sponsorship deals of note.

Players - Matty Smith, Sean O'Loughlin, Liam Farrell.


Option 2

£££ SL ---> NRL - up to £200k pa
No money received from central funding, additional sponsorship deals available to supplement income.

Players - Lee Mossop, Sam Tomkins*, James Graham.


Option 3

££££ SL ---> RU - up to £350k pa
Central funding & sponsorship deals available to supplement income.

Players - Joel Tomkins, Kyle Eastmond, Chris Ashton.


Option 4

£££££ SL ---> NRL ---> RU - up to £500k pa
Central funding & sponsorship deals available to supplement income.

Sam Burgess, *(Sam Tomkins tipped to follow)


Any young player coming through now may have previously had aspirations only to play in SL (Option 1) with limited income over a ten year period. Over the last few years sports agencies have been signing these young players up and giving them the best opportunity to increase their income once established in Super League.

You can't blame the players, but as a sport we now don't stand a chance.