There are lots of ways you could improve the situation without raising the cap willy-nilly. You could introduce significantly bigger discounts on home-grown talent than there are now. You could also look at marquee player discounts and even Club England type top-up payments.

I don't think even these adjustments would be a full solution, but to simply do nothing in response to this crisis is ludicrous. (I agree about playing better opposition more regularly, but there's a touch of irony in that Saints played a team who trashed them last weekend, and two of the best British forwards around were in the opposition).

Years ago I was accused of scaremongering when I said I feared our game would decline if we just accepted the cap was here to stay forever and that it would never be changed. Okay, British RL still has its professional tier, but a lot of our best players are no longer in it. As someone else said, it's now a case of 'when' our best new players will leave and not 'if'. And, if Joe Burgess is anything to go by, the age is coming down rapidly. How long will we have had him for - two seasons (one of which, judging by this one so far, he's doing a Brian Carney with his head elsewhere).

Is it still possible for the cap to be challenged legally? If so, I wonder how long before that happens. Because it may be the only outcome, and I doubt any of us really want that.

I find myself agreeing with DaveO, which is unusual, to say the least. Increasing the cap without a corresponding increase in income is folly. The problem is not the cap but the fact that the sport as a whole simply does not bring in enough money, whether that's TV income, other sponsorship, or gate money.

On TV sports viewing figures (at club level, at least; internationals are another matter), we are second only to football,. but that is not reflected in TV income.

DaveO is spot on...

Do you have any figures to back that assertion up Geoff?

I'd like to think you are right but am a little sceptical.

The figures are a little hard to find, but this article from last year is fairly typicalhttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2014/may/08/rugby-league-union-tvrl

Cheers, I had a little search myself but it is hard to find any figures for Sky. It does seem that International Sport gets the highest viewing figures (Cricket, Union) whilst Darts is incredibly popular. But in a straight fight between club Rugby Union and League, League wins hands down.

We really need to go back to Sky and look to renegotiate the deal that was agreed.
Not sure what the viewing figures were for the wcc but if they were a success then this is something that we need to try and take advantage of.
I've come to the conclusion that unless Sky stump up more then within the next couple of years there may not be a SL competition worth televising. They will know this we just need the balls to restart discussions on longer funding. Let's give Sky the Challenge Cup or even jettison that competition to give Sky exclusivity for screening RL but for considerably more funding. Let's at least try and think out of the proverbial box.
The problem for me is that we have no one within the RL or SL who has sufficient vision or energy to drag the game forward. Who is they guy we brought in as chairman. I can't even remember his name let alone what he stands for and how he plans to address the perennial issues of lack of funding and a non existent international game.

Knee Jerk

Not going to happen. I'd like to think Sky might realise to keep the quality of their second highest watched club sport they need to fund it better but I can't see it.



I think you are right. What we need is someone who could go the to likes of BT Sport and say "you give me a shed load of cash and I will give you an NRL-like competition". Instead we have the Fat Controller who was instrumental in locking us to Sky for what is it, five years?

The RFL needs a clear out. Most major organisations move CEO's and what not on after a relatively short period to reinvigorate things. The RFL certainly needs that.

Positive from last night. Two things.

John Bateman running down and tackling a Cas player who had made a break in the last five

Then exorting his teammates to form a scrum around him with two minutes to go.

Great attitude from our standout player in an otherwise miserable performance.

The salary cap has brought teams closer together, no doubt, but it seems more by slowing improvement for those at top rather than speeding up those at the bottom. As part of a group of initiatives (meaningful internationals, bias toward home nation players, better TV rights and more), the cap could withstand a small increase (2 or 3%).

Admittedly not a leading player, but Mark Edmondson left Saints for a job that offered better return. This may have been immediately, more long term or simply because it was in America (I think). There will be many of you on here who earn as much as some first teamers now, but more importantly, by the time they are thirty and looking for a new career, they've missed out on ten years of potential ladder climbing.

From memory, these have gone to union in last decade or so:

Sam Burgess, Kyle Eastmond, Joel Tomkins, Chris Ashton, Lee Smith, Brian Carney, Andy Farrell, Anthony Sullivan, Chev Walker, one of the Mylers, the big Pryce and before that the very high profile Iestyn Harris and Jason Robinson. This doesn't include foreigners (Henry Paul, Champagne Hape, Freddie Tuilagi, Maurie F'asavalu) and no doubt there are many I've missed in all the above categories.

And there's no real way of knowing whom we never had to start with (Farrell?).

It may seem short term but salary is important and must be worth flogging out one's guts

Positives, we won-Mossop.
Negatives, still look clueless going forward

....and backward and sideways.
Bizarre feeling being [ireally[/i cross at a win.

They looked tired before half-time.
Handling was dire.
Bowen is static & seems to be scared of getting hit.
Play-the-ball was glacial

I'm glad they didn't rise to Hull trying to rile them early on
A few of the "seniors" stood up, but were let down by poor decision making & sloppy play from too many others.

Still, 2 points. An ugly win. Hopefully, lessons might be learned.

again