Sam T has the ability to be a class act. All he needs do is stop the occasional use of the knees in the tackle. He doesnt need to do that and the wotlds his oyster.

If he keeps doing that then some big burly guy in green and gold might take exception

And that's why I wouldn't have him, as a player like that would eat so much salary cap the rest of the squad would have to be really really thinned out. It's a weird situation, such a fantastic player, all the ability in the world, but if he does sign a new deal for the Cowboys then having him there on even bigger wages (figures of $800,000 + per year have been guessed at for his next deal) could end what little chance they have of winning.

I think in the world of the salary cap, a player can become too good if that makes sense.

As far as I can remember though, 'occasional' has been more like 'rare' and hasn't actually been anything other than accidental.

Still we're all entitled to our own views, and it's interesting to hear about something I haven't really spotted directly myself - He's a really great down to earth well mannered lad, and i'm sure if he has been doing this than Sam will be the first to be unhappy with it and be working on trying to improve it. I've rarely seen a player to be as self critical and constantly looking to improve as Sam.

Its why Tomkins S, Lockers, Hansen, Tomkins J, McIlorum, Asincough and well you know the rest, are all so valuble.

Do you not think though that if we build a team of young players from the reserves and academy then we will have enough cash to splash on the worlds best?

I would take Thurston on Barretts wages!

Ah! I obviously missed that one.

Well, all I can say is that most of us Saints fans think he is a good player (and a pain in the a$$). I hope he has a chance to play against the Aussies and Kiwis as I think that will do him good. It'll certainly help to hone his game!

I am glad you see the England situation more important than your own clubs. Naturally you should want Tomkins to turn out poop for the good of saints but I am glad you want him to do well for England, I wish all RL supporters would put league first, we could sell out Wembley for every RL international.

I think it's the way forwards to be honest, and the same as the Storm do. And to some extent what Leeds have been doing. If you think about it logically, if our youth systems are functioning the way they're intended to, a club should never have to sign anything other than a really top class player (although current rep level Aus players are always going to be out of reach if they want to keep their rep career alive).

It's also why there can be no room for a general 'keep at ANY cost attitude', ideally we'll get to a point where there is a young player snapping at the heels of every first teamer. I'm hoping next years U20 competition will be a good thing and that the standard of competition will pick up as a result, it would be great to get it to an equivalent of the Toyota Cup. I'd also really like to see other clubs outside of super league put teams in there, currently only Widnes do, and they deserve a hell of a lot of credit for running an Academy team.

I think Dual registration can help bring on players as well, though i'm unclear on the specific rules.

I had the pleasure of a cab journey with Graeme West on Saturday night. He more or less said the same as you.

Spot on with both points.

If we bring through the young players we get properly, we should be one of the best teams in the league easily every year. The more players we have through the academy playing in the first team the more likely it is we can afford top class imports.

I agree teams out of super league should play against the best reserve and academy teams.

I would love to see our reserves comp to be as good as the toyota cup, the quality of rugby over there I have heard is amazing because the players are brought through so well. At 16 british teams normally go to aus and win but when it comes to a few years later the aussies develop the young players so much better. Saying all this though the quality of our reserves is very high and we get bigger crowds than alot of national league teams and it puts them to shame.

I would urge more people to get down to watch the reserves next season afterall it is free with a season ticket and its on a saturday when most people are not working. It is also quite often more entertaining rugby than what we see in super league.

even using that model you will still run into salary cap issues at some point. If all the players stated above go on to be very successfull and win full international honours then I would imagine they would be able to command decent pay increases. This has/is happening at Saints and some of my more deluded fellow Saints fans cant understand why we are having to let some established players go seemingly without replacing them ..

I like Both S and J Tomkins and definatly can see both going onto do big things for Wigan and England and I really hope Ainscough get s a chance and gets some good coaching because I'd love to see a real english flying winger in the squad (never really seen what the fuss is about McIlorum though).

Hell yeah. I love rugby league and so I want rugby league to do well, in the UK and internationally. I hope Tomkins plays a blinder* (should Smith allow him to play) and even if he does get over run, he won't be the first and he won't be the last! Hopefully he will learn from the experience, whatever it is like, and see it as inspirational. I think that way even about the likes of Ryan Hall - and to think that way about a Leeds player after the last Grand Final must prove to anyone beyond any shadow of a doubt that I very much want rugby league to do well!

*So long as Tomkins remembers he must always have an off game when he meets us!

Absolutely you'll still run into cap issues, but you'll be able to plan and manage and be having other players naturally come through. It will mean letting some players go at some point, look at the storm having to let Folau go because they couldn't give him the kind of money the Broncos were waving around, or them having to let DJ potentially go.

It's a much nicer position to be in though, and when a few teams are in this position it will be a good indication that we're actually as nation starting to bring through and develop more quality young players.