I think your missing my point, I'd try and keep young talented British players than sign overseas players.

If all clubs had have made the same commitment we'd still have Ashton, Tomkins, Eastmond in our game rather than some of the weak overseas players we have now.

Broughton back to Hull?

yep sorry pal missed your point i see were your coming from but its hard to get a good team without signing Aussies and kiwis. young English talent is coming through at only a few teams at the moment if everyone had the spine of the team like Leeds then i see were your coming from. but that will take years for every team to build there team to that level and until that time comes this is how it will be. money talks nowadays and we would never compete with the nrl or union when it comes down to cash unfortunately so if we do lose players there's not much the clubs can do.

Thank feck you have no input then. Utterly bonkers idea.


How much would it save, exactly? Or even roughly?

How many clubs bring 'more to the table' than one of the best sides in the competition. And don't start the pointless whining about away fans, either. If cubs can't attract enough home fans to survive then missing out on some away fans for one game a season won't make any difference.


Then you'd be wrong, like the vast majority of flat-cappers.

And presumably these "away" fans from France and London we dont get would bring in more income than what Sky gives us because its not just an M62 competition?

shhhhh... some people on here don't deal in reality.

Protectionism, like all market distortions, tends to have unintended consequences that are often undesirable. Our rules are already pretty restrictive.

The major issue is money, not policy, IMO. Many other professional sports leagues have had to adapt to relative poverty. Dutch and Portugese football for example - they don't get rid of all their imports to hold onto a van Persie or Cristiano Ronaldo. They continue to develop good players, but realise the best will leave. And they have competitive international teams, if that is the concern. Of course, they just leave the country rather than the sport - Briscoe going to the NRL is better than him going to RU at least.

Footballs played all over the world RL is played in 3 countries. It also has transfer fees of substance.

Tony Smith?

It's not a perfect comparator, I admit. On the other hand, [iplayers[/i participating is more meaningful than [icountries[/i. There may only be (Eastern) Australia (and to a much lesser extent NZ, plus France), but the scale there is much bigger than here.
We tried an import ban and it wasn't an unequivocal success by any means.
I want the best league possible not the most British. There is a balance to be struck, so I don't mind the non-fed rule, but in anthing that is meant to be elite, promotion by passport and going into our shell will tend to lead to stagnation and mediocrity.

We only got one season of him at the KC (or at least I think we did)

Yeah, but he was the last proper SH we had. Or at least, the last one who played more than a handful of games.

I'd be lying if I said I remember him that well, too many since then!

You'll have to convince me which clubs these are, as IMO London aren't the only team offering less than Catalan to SL. I had my doubts when they first started up, but they've won me over and deserve their place in SL. Anyone who still doesn't think so can only be doing so out of stubbornness.

They have a very good side, play excellent, exciting, skilful RL, produce their own (i.e. French) players, are now promoting their own coach, have a strong home following, and have their games televised every week in France to promote the game. They are entirely fulfilling the reason for their inclusion.

If they aren't the sort of club we want in our game then we're just asking to be consigned to the semi-pro ranks played on a school field watched by a couple of dozen when the weather's ok.

Cas, Wakey, KR to name but three.