Wonder if he is doing a mini pre season In Aus so when he arrives he is fit and ready to go. No point him coming over straight away if he is not fit

Why wouldnt he be fit? Hes been playing for Burleigh Bears hasn't he? (Gold Coast feeder club)

Why would he do that? Why would he stay in Aus and train on his own? Surly it would be better to get over here, get set up, clear any jet lag and train with the boys.

All that's even before you start to even consider that his visas prob been cancelled as he's not got employment.

He put a picture on Instagram saying him and his partner were having a last catch up with some friends before heading back to the UK ‘next week’ (it was posted a couple of days ago) so it doesn’t sound like it’ll be long before he’s here.

Looking at our back row options for Friday at Cas, getting him here this week would be very handy!

Plus didn't we pay FPN off? That counts against the Salary Cap too.

I get the feeling there's not much Salary Cap space to work with.

Even less money, considering we're paying three players over the odds (O'Loughlin, S. Tomkins and Williams).

Three of our best/most influential players yesterday and in truth for most of the season.

Perhaps.

The point stands that we're still paying them significantly more than their Salary Cap figures, which is why there is little money for other players.

Lockers has done 10 years and his full salary does not count on the cap.

O Loughlin only counts 50% and is the most influential player in the comp. Deserves every penny he gets

What you mean is that we can pay them what they’re worth while still leaving enough cap space to spend on other players, because of their various SC exemptions.

We didn't pay FPN off and it does not matter how much over the oods we pay for those three because only a small part of their wages count on the cap. That said I am not sure about Lockers anymore on that score. There was a rule about a long serving player having only part of their wages counted but I m not sure if it is still in place. Even so, salary cap space-wise these two or three are not the problem. We either simply can't afford to pay circa £2m + marquee money OR we can and we are paying some very average players too much money whose wages do count in full on the cap such as Powell, Isa and Sarge.

Full salary cap regulations from page 256 - 323. www.rugby-league.com/operational-rules/#p=256

Full salary cap regulations from page 256 - 323. www.rugby-league.com/operational-rules/#p=256

George Williams one of our best and most consistent this season? You’ve got to be kidding.

The only consistent he has been is consistently p*ss poor.

Give over. The early part of the season when we were scoring tries for fun down our left edge, they all started with Williams. Either a burst of speed or a cracking pass to put Faz or Gildart away. He may not have been on top form all year but to say he’s been p@@s poor is miles off and massively unfair.

I don't think Sam Tomkins is worth £300k a year.

My point is that due to Salary Cap exemptions (that we argued for) we're paying significantly more than every other SL team on wages. Only one man is footing that bill. I'm don't fault him for reigning in the purse strings.