Firstly, Gareth Ellis was a great player for club/s and country, one tough competitor, but he has probably less coaching experience than Mark Applegarth.

They need to head across to areas like Penrith. I watch a lot of NRL, and they are always banging on about the huge number of players in the pathways they have at clubs like Penrith. There must be some talented kids that are just not getting themselves noticed, who would fancy an overseas adventure. If you want me to quote someone who had to board a plane to get noticed, Henry Paul would be the first shout. And Robbie Paul. And Jacob Miller.

Unless they're an international or we pay them an obscene amount of money then they'll struggle to get a visa.

PNG players are a good shout , tough as teak cheap as chip (compared to NRL ) most don’t get a sniff in the NRL and watching them in the recent World Cup there are some crackers knocking about especially those powerful forwards .Maybe even Fifita or Arona could do some ground work and point us in the right direction. The days of the big names Aussies playing over here is over due to the alignment of our games , unless they have an unsavoury reputation or crocked ( as we’ve found out ) .Although the game is that vast that there are still excellent quality players that come into the shop window ,but usually get snapped up pronto with the lure of a decent wage and silverware by the bigger clubs . In the not too distant future we hopefully will be able to throw our hat into the bidding ring and snare ourselves these types of players ,once the word gets out we mean business and not a retirement home or easy street .

Been a retirement home for last 4 years .And found out this year with our new overseas players we are on easy street

The rules have changed now, players from the Southern Hemisphere have to have played first grade NRL, have represented an first grade international side or have family heritage in the UK / France to be able to gain a visa to play in the Super League. If this rule had stood back in the day, players such as Henry Paul and Jason Demetriou et al, would not have been able to come across. It's a shame. Add that to the ever growing spectacle that is the NRL and their increasing salary cap, the quality from down under just isn't available anymore, unless they are young and really willing to take a chance like Croft, Hastings, Clifford etc - but even then, they are short term signings as their ideal destination is to play NRL again.

It's a tough position that our side of the game has found ourselves in.

...actually JD might have been okay as he played for Canada before signing for Super League but Henry Paul would not have qualified.

Or you can pay them £100k a year.

I saw a rumour mentioning Shenton who has been with HullFC youth set up mentioned.

I wonder if this role is the one he’s been targeted or considered for with it involving youth and scholarship talent.

"unless they are an international or you pay them an obscene amount of money, then they'll struggle to get a visa"
Not sure what you mean by 'pay them an obscene amount or they'll struggle to get a visa imwakey,I thought it was determined by NRL games.
Leigh had about a dozen overseas players in 2022 and reduced them down to the SL quota for promotion,(2 could have been Marquee
players?),but stayed within the salary cap,presumably.Not cheap admittedly,but one would think within our scope now.

It would be great to get Andy Kelly back. A phrase he once used to me, when discussing Trinity, was "it's in the blood". I'm not sure he's involved with recruitment at open cheque book Shudds though as their signings all seem to be who Ian Watson wants.

There's loopholes around international games and the World Cup, but you can also pay them over £100k which overrides the criteria. I'm assuming that's how Leigh did it, but they also run with a smaller squad than most so would have no trouble fitting within the cap.

The govenment is not going to turn down the tax from that kind of wage.

Pretty sure that isn't right. Whilst its one of the factors that goes into consideration there has to be other mitigating circumstances alongside to enable the visa to be passed, it's not just simply a case of a pay hundred grand and their in.

I don't know the rules but part of the general rules for work permits is to prove that the person is an expert in their field and the role can't be simply filled locally.
I wonder if the high salary would be part of that explanation.