Raising the cap may well go some way to helping - in reality the cap has not increased since it was introduced, so in real terms player salaries have gone down. Now suppose the cap was raised to a level where players could earn a reasonable wage - that could well persuade some players to stay in the game in this country.

At the moment the difference between here and Aus/RU is getting larger and larger with every passing year making it more and more attractive to players to leave. Doing nothing is not an option as it will only get worse as SL falls further and further behind.

I am not sure JP's suggestions are the best ones but at least he is openly saying that something needs to be done and that is to be applauded.

Sadly i fear that the head in the sand brigade will continue to win the day at the meetings/decision making points and things will continue to slowly stagnate.

I agree with what you say, but if the money isn't their to increase the cap what's the point. Why is it the likes of Wigan, Leeds and Warrington continue to vote against raising the cap? Afterall they'd probably be the clubs least likely to be effected by an increase in the cap.

Well said JP.
However, as already stated, each club to play each other 3 times. Thus not compromising gate revenue.
Salary Cap. Not raised [iper se[/i, but to make the salaries of all 'home grown' players exempt.
Put's the emphasis on youth development, which will ultimately benefit the national game. A successful national team = more interest both from media and public outside of traditional RL heartland = higher profile = more success.
i.e. an upward spiral, rather than the current downward helter-skelter approach to the game that Red Hall seems to be content with.

Maybe not exemp, but I don't think their full salary should count on the cap. This should've been done a few years ago.

I agree with what you're saying to a degree. It may be a temporary solution, but that's all it will be. The esteem and level of competition, plus lifestyle would still drag British players overseas. Their cap will always be much larger than ours as the money that is thrown at their National Game dwarfs ours. That will never change. I can't really offer any solutions, which is frustrating, except maybe that the RFL should make sure its grassroots and heartlands are hives of youth talent and the structures are in place to increase the playing pool for the UK as a whole.

We may want to accept that our game will be second fiddle to the NRL in scope, size, talent etc That doesn't mean we can't carve out a strong game in the UK but things really need to change drastically over the short and long term for that to happen.

Okay, let's do nothing then.

Because that seems to be the alternative solution from quite a few people in the game.

We're so good at finding reasons why new ideas won't work. Pity we can't employ our gray matter to suggest some that will.

Hey, if I had the answers I'd be running the RFL now wouldn't I?

The reason it's easy to spot flaws is because generally the ideas are not well thought out and finding reasons why they wont work is easy because the reasons practically slap you in the face. Truth is, there's no easy option. There will always be flaws. What the RFL need to do is pick the one with the least amount.

And equally it makes no sense to further shoot ourselves in the foot with bad ideas.

There's nothing wrong with discussing the merits and failings of ideas. But let's not disguise this by phrasing things hopefully - creating a 2x10 system is just bringing 6 clubs that may or may not be able to handle full time into that world, dropping 4 clubs down a level, which may be good for cutting their costs, but also will damage that area in terms of academy work, profile and so on. Add in to the mix of the above ten a few further teams who will simply be stuck in limbo, yo-yoing between the two, unable to have any solid ground for long run investment. We do not have the financial clout to make our second tier an adequate safety net, just a risk to those already struggling.

In terms of intensity and so forth, I can't see this move making a jot of difference. It's roughly the same players in the same teams, just with less varied opposition.

I'm not sure that what Peacock proposes could be called an easy option.

It would mean a radical restructuring of the game. But that is what we need, or something like it.

One way or another, we need to trim Super League down, to concentrate the talent and increase the competitiveness of every match - because that's another big problem. So many games are dead rubbers (and not just between top and bottom - we already seem to have an elite league within SL, which is no use to us).

I totally agree that raising the cap won't help in isolation, but we could make modifications to it - discounts on home-grown players, discounts on RU converts maybe, central top-up funds on marquee players etc. We could also get our heads together with Australia and NZ and work out a more exciting and attractive international programme. Maybe bump up the World Club Challenge into something meaningful.

I don't think any of these proposals, or others like them, are completely impractical.

While we'll never replicate the lifestyle available in Aus, we can certainly do more to make life in British RL more appealing for top players. But is the matter even being discussed at head office? I've heard nothing to the effect that it is.

We're already doing that.

The point about dead rubbers, I'm not convinced how bringing in relegation giving less security to the lower teams in the league is going to improve these clubs in the long term.

I'm not a big fan of P&R either, but I firmly believe that we need to slim SL down to some extent.

It that means dropping a couple of perennial underachievers into a lower division, so be it.

That's all very well but how do you decide on who? Would they be willing to drop down? How do you do it fairly? What about finances and sponsorship? Clubs dropping down are libel to lose income from sponsors who want the top league. Making an elite competition even harder to get into by solely grouping the top current teams together does nothing to improve the British game in the long run. It's great for six or so Clubs and that's it. The same as it is now.