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.

I think RU fans are similar to Cricket fans which I include myself in. I go to England cricket matches but I have never been to a domestic match. Why? Because its boring and nonnof the so called stars or top players play in these games. I find England RU and England Cricket tend to contract the players to the international side more so than clubs. England RU is more of a club ran organisation rather than an international team.

When England take on the Kangaroos and Kiwis in the 4 Nations later this year in Australia, Burgess will be playing for Bath, so is it money or love of playing for his country ?

for me its no coincidence that he has signed a 3 year contract, they have a world cup, olympic 7's, Lions Test all coming up in the next 3 years and not to forget they have 6 nations every year. If transitions as he should he will become famous in the uk and will go back to sydney its clearly a handshake deal rusty has agreed to.

The question is be asking myself if I were Sam Burgess would be

"Do I want to be half recognised as a minor sporting celebrity e.g Keiron Bracken, Darren Gough, Phil Tuffnell and appear on crap reality TV shows as way of earning more money once I retire or do I want to be recognised as an immortal/legend in the sport that gave me all the opportunities available to me and the sport I love?"

You shouldn't just make a decision based on purely the financial benefit otherwise your doing it for the wrong reason.

An old bloke once said to me " find a job that you love and you'll never have to 'work' a day in your life again.

And if I were Sam and Rugby Union asked me to sign I'd say "I'd rather suck John Hopoates fingers"

He won't need to work when his RL playing days are over, he's on enough money now to be set for life when he stops playing asking as he invests it either in a business, shares, bonds, houses, etc

That is the real issue facing RL in the UK now. RFL needs to allow clubs to bring in 1 player exempt from the cap with the club having proof it can pay the wages for that season without going bust. 4 or 5 clubs are in the position to do this including us. IL does not want to increase the cap but he is not a poor man by a long way. Tight maybe but not stupid.

But this is the problem we are not playing by the top sides rules we are playing by the teams mid table and lower. We pay what they can afford to keep up with and we lose too many good players to RU and NRL.

Could you imagine the interest of SBW - Salford, Sam Tomkins - Wigan, James Graham - Saints with both Leeds and Giants taking a player from the NRL. Way more publicity and a better competition. But as i said SL is played at the financial level of Widnes, Bradford, Hull KR etc. Unless they get the house in order SL will be the same as it is now in 10 years time.

Let the richer clubs get 1 exempt from NRL and get 2 exempt from the cap if they are trained by the clubs as juniors onwards and then bring in a 2 million cap. The clubs who can not afford the 1.6 million now would be in the same boat as they are now struggling. But it would give the top sides a chance to stop the players leaving for more money. Its not about the challenge if that was true then why did players like Peacock, Cunningham, Long etc not to go the NRL when it was obviously a better competition. RFL needs to wake up.