That doesn't make any sense. If we had UK players in place of the overseas players you mention Joel would probably be on the exact same contract he is on now.

The £1.6m part of the salary cap gets divided by 25 players and can't be spread any further than those 25 so it doesn't really make any odds where they come from.

It is certainly true though that the money isn't there to make it a simple matter that raising the cap would solve everything though some sort of central fund for England players ought to he affordable.

Where the RFL is at fault is it's neglect of the International game in favour of projects like Millenium Magic. In the 80's and early 90's before SL the International game would get £65K on at Wembley and pack out grounds like Elland Road. Tours by the Aussies were big events and the club games against the touring sides got huge crowds and were epic games. All this has gone and the buck stops at the top.

In Rugby League, the tail constantly wags the dog.
As long as it doesn't affect the likes of Castleford & Wakefield (they will never lose their homegrown 'star players' to other sports and will carry on signing the dregs of Wigan's/Saints Academy) then why should things change?

God there's never a dull moment being a Wigan fan. There's always something bubbling under the surface, and it's usually impending doom.

You honestly think that oen of the countries brighest stars would leave because his little brother got booed? Give over, at least he will be allowed to dive on people when they are lay on the floor.

what is the RU salary cap these days?

i don't really care, joel is replacable especially with the amount of compensation we surely should get from the transfer if it does go ahead / is even true. whereas the likes of the youngsters in the game such as sam, foster, lomax etc aren't. that is when it will get worrying.

fair play, joel has done well enough out of position this year at centre and i'm sure we'll all fondly remember his try in the CC final. but if he has his head elsewhere, and who can blame him on the money he'd probably be offered with the life and travelling to boot, then i say take advantage while we can still command a good deal out of it.

with regards to folk worrying about the sport and its decline, again, why are we worrying, we've lost eastmont - who has been utter garbage this year IMO, and joel, who is replacable. not exactly the end of the world and for die hards of the sport, fans and players alike, if they want out then we don't want them in the sport anyway.

IF he goes (and it was on the cards last week as soon as they both signed for the company that manage chris ashton) good ridance, and dont come back.

i dont blame him for taking the money....but so did Judas.

Hi guys, just wanted to reiterate what I said about the whole Eastmond saga last year (I think I may have even written it on the Wigan forum)

The players don't make the game. Joel Tomkins will leave and someone will take his place as we have lots of people doing the right thing in developing young talent. The fans' loyalty is to the clubs, the clubs' loyalty is to the game, and the game will always exist as long as we live and spend within our means.

What we can't afford is for clubs to have a knee-jerk reaction to stuff like this and start paying players more than they can afford. EVERYONE is replaceable as long as we stick behind our teams and retain our own loyalty to the game. If Wigan's entire starting 13 moved to Sarries, Quinnies, Bathies, Fannies or whoever else, there would still be 13 lads starting the season in February in Wigan's colours and they would have your total support. I know they would. Clubs are bigger than players and that's a fact.

We can't compete with RU's money, we never will be able to, and we shouldn't try.

Great response!

I'm sure I read somewhere that the new deal recently signed for SL coverage was a record breaker.

now on a more serious note..........the RFL needs to raise the Cap to allow clubs to compete with mega rich RU clubs.

Hang on........havnt we got a FRANCHISE SYSTEM??????????????

only in rugby league can we have a franchise system that doesnt allow the owner of the franchise the opportunity to invest his money into making a sucess of his franchise.

Of course it matters where they come from, its costing us more to get players over from the NRL than it is to keep the english lads. Its costing more to have Lima here than Prescott or Mossop or Coley and probably Fielden. Players wont come over from the NRL for the same kind of money the home grown players are on. The cap yes is your top 25 earners but its not split evenly 25 ways. The overseas players are commanding bigger wages. Fact. And this isnt just about Joel and his contract its about all the talent in super league thats now a target for RU.

Yeah, it's easy saying this but who's next? Be it this year, next year or the year after?

Sam? - most probably!
Charnley? - You can bet they are watching him as well!

What's the point in spending all that quality time and money training them up (plus the likes of Mellor to come), if after a year or two in SL they swan off to RU for the bigger bucks / better lifestyle?

RU survived for 100 years with RL poaching its best players, so I am sure that we can survive the loss of a few players now.

Life goes on, and these players are replaceable.

where is the money going to come from? unless we have 14 super rich owners happy to subsidise losses year on year, then RL clubs are in no position to be spending more money on players.