What do we reckon?

Superb talent. Scores the sort of athletic and spectacular tries that RU people take note of. Youngish (22 - bear in mind that fellas have played for England RU at 48+), and appealingly innocent (in other words completely at the mercy of his scrote agent). After a year at Quins, he will have been spared the sort of cattish criticism that Eddie and Stevo delight in - in fact, they think he's totally ace. Which won't be lost on Stuey Barnes, who never needs to look any further than Super League on Sky for his next shedload of recommendations.

Four year contract at Leeds ... means nothing to the big money boys. Once he's in their sights, they'll get him. Hell, he even sounds like an RU player.

Once Eastmond's gone, will Jones-Bishop be the next? Sadly... I think so.

PS: for what it's worth, I so hope not. But I hoped that with Eastmond, Ashton, Thornley, Farrell, Ford, etc.

Isn't he JJB's half brother? JJB is a bright chap who I would hope would offer some appropriate advice.

No Ben Jones-Bishop and JJB are not actually related, JJB's half-brother is Jodie Broughton at Salford.

And Brooke Broughton and Austin Buchanan! Let's just say their Dad was 'a bit of a lad'.

Personally - If they want to go, let them go.

I think he would make a better union player than Eastmond, I really don't think Eastmond will do anything.
Lee Smith would have been a better Union player than Eastmond had he stayed long enough.

They only want him because he has got a double barrell surname.

Toff nosed s.

I personally dont like this insecurity that some have that if any young player has a good game then we will lose him to Union. I think that we should be more confident about our game than that.

Yes we need to do more to keep players in the game but it will always be a small percentage that choose Union and for every Eastmond or Robinson there are numerous players that turn down Union. I know several younger players at Wigan alone who have turned down Union over the last few years. There are very few players that have left that are genuinely that good, Robinson definately was a loss and possibly Eastmond due to our lack of English half backs (a player who lets be honest is very inury prone and far from the finished article) but none of the others were a great loss. The biggest loss of all has really been the PR damage to the game, which is made far worse than a pro-Union media, which bares no reflection to reality.

I see the League to Union converts in 3 brackets, the likes of Chev Walker and Karl Pryce who were hardly great League players and weren't really a loss imo. They got huge Union contracts which they werent going to get in League because they werent good enough to get the real big League contracts. They hardly set the world on fire when they came back either.

Then there are the likes of Farrell, Hape and Vainakolo. There were great League players in their day but were well past it when they left and/or were troubled by very serious injuries such as Hape's 3 knee reconstructions and Vainakolo's various injuries. It is a short career and a big pension and less physically demanding game where you can prolong your career will always appeal when you have had serious injuries.

Then there are the younger players. Ashton was in the reserves at Wigan and may not have even made it here, no one really knows but I am certain he is a lot more suited to Union than League. Thornley never really impressed me and was always lower down the pecking order and never came close to first team action. Ford and Owen Farrell went to Union largely because of their Dad's employment, there is no way Owen Farrell would be playing Union if Andy hadnt gone to Saracens.

Mr Hetherington is very shrewd I think all this will have been taken care of when bjb signed his new deal

Just out of interest, who are the Wigan youngsters who turned down Union? I know a few of them, and I haven't heard much about this. I'm not doubting you, by the way - I'd just be interested to know.

While I think you speak from the heart, your list of coverts and the reasons why most of them were no loss does sound a little bit like bravado. The PR factor alone - which you rightly allude to - is creating an image that RL is much the poorer game, and that will do us no good in the long term.

One thing that does puzzle me is why Union people themselves don't feel peeved by this. On the TV debate last week, Stevo suggested that these boys are going to the other code partly because there's a guaranteed England shirt in the deal. That's amazing in my opinion: Hape, Henry Paul and the Volcano were as English as I'm Japanese, while Thornley, as you say, had never even broken into his domestic club's first team - and not for lack of trying. Ashton himself, while he's been a success, hadn't really proved himself in RL at the time he signed. If we were buying untested RU players and automatically upgrading them to international status - whatever their apparent standard - I wouldn't be too impressed. But whatever Club England want to do, no-one seems to object.

Incidentally, did anyone see the RU international the other day - with Shaun Edwards and Mike Ford on the opposing coaching benches? Then we hear about Farrell coaching at Saracens. And we wonder why we don't seem to have any decent British coaches in RL.

I thought that it was funny in barnes v stevo chat, that barnes said
most of the rl players were never a success in ru

to get picked to play for England at ru is not classed as being a success hey???

in terms of the relative appeal of both games international rl cannot hold a candle to the 6 nations where 200 K + watch 3 games over the course of a weekend. the TV the media coverage blows us away. i know its not international but we expect good press when 60K watch 7 games at cardiff and media coverage is limited to eddie and stevo...

Yes they are, they are half brothers. Well Jjb and bjb seem to think so?

And as for bjb going to union? No chance, Leeds have no quality youngsters they are all crap. rogues and you pies say so.

If Leeds players have any questions about ru I'm sure smithy will have some good advice to give