I heard on the radio earlier that the clubs are voting on a salary cap increase tomorrow night. Does anyone know the details? Can we afford a cap increase? Would it just make the divide between the rich clubs and the poorer ones wider again

Don't know the details but could see a scenario where we return to Wigan dominance which would be a shame when at present the competition's pretty open.

Agree with that. Don't think the game is strong enough now to cope with dominance by a few teams. Interest in the game will wain.
It's not as though we can cherry pick NRL players as has been the case in the past to generate interest.
Be interesting to see how AP votes.

I can see the logic in an increase, there hasnt been one for years and its an attempt at making the Union dollar less attractive

Need to keep up with union and NRL at least a bit. Can't keep the whole sport lagging behind carrying skint clubs, what we really need is a much better TV deal.

No wonder numbers of new players are down when the pay on offer compared to many other sports/professions is so poor

Salary cap needs increasing to nearer three million in order to pay the players both properly and keep them in the sport full stop. If teams cant afford to pay three million out (and i know Pearson will vote against) then tough - i want to see the best players playing RL in england. People moan about Wigan and their past expenditures but i seem to remember the rugby and the teams/players being a whole lot better years before the salary cap was brought in

increase the cap under one condition

all superleague clubs must run a reserve team! if they can afford more cap money, they can afford to run a reserve team!

We lose virtually no players to union and only a handful to the NRL, plenty of whom have come back anyway. I've just googled the RU premiership salary cap and it's an eye watering £7m from next season (How the hell can they afford that?) and the NRL cap is $7m or about £4.25m. In reality, what level of cap increase do we need to really compete if they want our players (irrespective of the desire of a player to test himself in the NRL).

In general, RL players at the elite level in this country are very well paid at an average salary for a SL player of somewhere around £60-70k. I know they put their bodies on the line, it's a short career, earn less tan footballers etc. but the harsh reality is that they are pretty much earning every penny the clubs get from the TV deal and a fair chunk of clubs only exist because of the generosity of club owners. Personally, I see no real benefits in increasing it other than maybe a very small number of players staying put rather than moving to Oz or RU (Where the top players earn £1m+) at the expense of the competitiveness of the comp and the possible financial hardship of some clubs

Well wasps turnover was £17 million last year and there still £33 million in debt

They should set up a SL team

I agree we have to get back to having reserve teams
get rid of the play offs and introduce a simple bottom team relegated from Super League and the top Championship team promoted.
Also lets get back to Sunday afternoon games for all teams apart from the Sky Thurs/Fri game

The corporate £'s speak and (apparently) prefer Friday night games (perhaps so they can still play 18 holes on a Sunday)

Absolutely spot on.

The competiveness of the game may have to become it's selling point.
We're not going to get anywhere near the salary cap level of the RFU or NRL, so increasing it marginally will have very little positive impact.

Are any RL clubs making money?

Whilst in some ways an increase would be a good thing in certain terms in regards to paying top players a more competitive financial package the negative aspects far out weighs that.

Jake is correct in his post with regards to his brief outline of the caps in the NRL & RU etc.

If the SL was awash with riches then I could see the real benefit of increasing the salary cap but the facts are if it wasn't for the TV money the clubs receive then top players would be lucky to get £1K per week. Unfortunately we can not compete with the NRL both financially or with the chance for a player to test themselves at the highest level. RU whilst not necessarily well attended at club level the level of income from TV and sponsorship etc is again something the currently SL can not compete with.

The last season or so we have seen he affect of the salary cap in that it has brought SL clubs closer in terms of results and it is now a much more competitive league than it ever has been with any club being able to beat another. This is what should the club s & RFL should be using to market the sport.

Facts are SL is not the same level as Football, RU or NRL financially and similarly being a salesman in a vauxhall dealership doesnt have the same level of earning potential as a salesman in say Ferrari or Mclaren dealership even though in essence its the same job.

Until there is a better set up all round in academies etc where young players are produced by all SL clubs on a regular basis the sport will be prohibited in getting any better.

Maybe the marquee rule could be expanded but when many clubs are not financially cash rich it would be detrimental to the sport to go back to money talking and one or two clubs dominating. Bradford being a prime example of the very real scenario of the big negative.