Joel tomkins asksto be omitted from England squad

Quote: bewareshadows "The bottom line is cash, they have it we don't.

Sure you ca say drop the salary cap. Some clubs will compete. But this will only result in wage inflation. The players will not become better because they are paid more and eventually 10 years down the line we will have clubs whose chairmen have debted them up to the eye balls left with no benefactor and debts they and the fans cannot afford.

We need to grow our market. That means clubs breaking even, that means rather than a salary cap there is a brealk even cap or minimum profit level. If benefactors want x or y player let them sign them but the club must be able to turn a profit. If the wages are too high then either the player cannot be sign or the benefactor takes on the liability not the club.

We need solvant business' as in the end when the money men get tired and leave, its the fans who have to see their team, break up , get relegated, die.

If you can bring in more money then fair enough sign who ever on what ever, but lets not go pre SL where clubs were all mortgaged to the hilt and ready to sink, because this time there will be no SKY to save us all, as they are already here.'"

Of course the business end is important, but you also need a product to make that business/club viable. You talk about growing our market, but how can clubs put themselves in a position to make more money when the top athletes in this competition are leaving? Everyone agrees the game needs more money. Every sport/business will want/need more money. But how can we possibly go about generating this when the best players in our competition are leaving for other sports/competitions? What do we do? Do we sit here and watch our best talent get cherry picked by rival comps/sports or do we try to do something about it?

There's no easy answer. The game needs money. We've apparently made record profits at the RFL and have a record new television deal with Sky. We should be in a position to increase the amount of money flowing through our game. Personally, I believe the problem lies with having too many clubs. The standard of Super League is declining. The IN's/OUT's thread on the VT is depressing. We're not a better competition for having more clubs we're far worse off. Our players play more games, which stunts our chances at international level. We have a small talent pool of players so the level of competition varies quite erratically and games drop in intensity. Also the spread of money is dried up between 14 teams, which is absolutely ridiculous. Make the competition 12 teams, the bottom two drop out to the Championship, more money/talent is spread across each of the clubs and coupled with the franchises (which is one of the RFL's better ideas) we could see things pick up.

I also think the salary cap should rise with inflation and that up to five homegrown players should be exempt from the salary cap. Also any player that has played ten years for one club would have their wages exempt from the salary cap - not half. I would also up the £50K given to players outside the top 25 earners to encourage clubs to spend on homegrown players and also to deter players like Ian Thornley from Rugby Union when at an early age.

Are my answers perfect? Of course not, but that's how I would go about things. It's very easy to point out a problem - solving it is a different matter. Whatever people's opinions are we must surely do something to stop the growing trend of elite players leaving our sport. Sitting back and saying "we'll find a replacement", "we did this to Rugby Union", "we can't afford it" is just nonsense. We can't afford to keep losing players like Graham, Eastmond, Tomkins, Burgess etc Our competition suffers for it. We struggle for top draw players as it is. Where would it end? Will Sam Tomkins stay while his brother is lapping it up in Union? Josh Charnley? Tom Briscoe? Ben Jones Bishop?

But hey, who gives one. As long as Wigan are a little weaker next season.