wigan have more than 5 overseas players in the squad

The rules are actually pretty clear. The complications have come from potential legal action by overseas players who were already employed here when the Non-Fed rule came in and from accommodating EU employment law. Over time the first issue will disappear as these players retire and the second is manageable.

I know it looks like a fiasco at present, and the RFL certainly haven't helped by setting precedents for 'one off' exemptions, but it should work out given time.

Just a thought,

How about looking at this from another angle and reward clubs for promoting home grown players rather then the messy rules around overseas signings. You could develop the idea of discounting players contribution to the salary cap allowing clubs to develop a home grown team of talent over time without the worry of keeping them under the cap and loosing then to rival clubs.

Not sure if the idea is 100% there but but be worth rewarding the clubs that invest in the youth of the game?

The same thing happened in the UK with the ice hockey, after going from only 3 imports to being allowed to 3 imports and a reclassified player (basically a Canadian with UK passport) because the BIHA were challenged on the ruling by Tim Fecking Cranston so teams then filled up squads with 3 imports and 3 or 4 reclassified players. Only problem being the junior development and advance of the juniors got stunted and so we are now left with the teams having 9-10 imports per team as no longer enough quality home grown players to fill the rosters. then a rule came out saying teams had to field at least 2 or 3 UK players on the ice but not sure if this is still the case as lost all interest in the sport here due to the politics.

This is the worry for me with RL.

Is this something that could be workable in our sport? Allow teams to sign as many imports as they like, but have a rule saying they can only field 3/4/5 per game?

Unfortunately as long as this breaches employment law someone or some club will find a way around the rules until eventually they just refuse to abide by it, And the problem is the rfl cannot legally bind clubs to a gentlemans agreement. the worse thing is I can see the same eventually happening with the salary cap..

I think a rule like that would be a lot easier too enforce than the current quota system.

and thats where the problem lies, its cheaper and the quota makes it easier, maybe if clubs couldnt bring in any old Aussie they would have to put more efforts into the youngsters, more time and effort, more quaility,
we all seem to think that without all these Exports our game would struggle, maybe it would, BUT maybe with better youngsters coming through who've had more time spent on them, wed only struggle for a few years.
this is only an observation, it may be total rubbish, but IMO it would be nice to get back to 3 exports.

Id expect the whole of the Crusades foreign contingent to get dispensation

Isn't this the way it works in football to some extent? I think in Italian you can only field 3 non-european players but retain more. It might even be the same in the Premier League.

The relative wealth of the NRL and SL is going to make quotas redundant, I'd assume, when they get their new tv deal.

Those who were most keen for more British players to be given a chance should get their wish. Those who think that this will narrow the gap to the Kangaroos are in for a disappointment, IMO. What will be more likely to help is if more of our best follow Ellis, Burgess and Graham to the NRL.

Agree with that. The end result in any case is a poorer SL competition in the medium term at least, and a resulting drop in sponsorship and TV money. It then becomes a downward spiral. The RFL should be putting steps in place to ensure that SL clubs can still attract the best worldwide talent to enrich the competition by widening the salary cap and reintroducing limits based upon turnover, whilst giving financial incentive to clubs to promote youngsters from within. It should also invest far more of its profits into young player development through the clubs.

I don't agree with increasing the salary cap. It's already more than most clubs can afford. If the sport can't generate enough income to compete with aussie wages then we need to focus on improving British players. RL players are paid well enough compared to most other sports to make it attractive enough but clubs need to start spending a reasonable amount on youth development instead of doing it on the cheap

Which is why there should be incentives to promote youth as I said. That can't be done alone though as the best players, including the top British youth that comes through, will just play in the NRL if our top clubs can't compete with the wages over there. There has to be a plan at both ends of the spectrum otherwise SL will become a junior feeder comp with the best handful of juniors going to Aus and staying there. SKY, sponsors, and fans want to see the best players playing in SL so there has to be a mix. The idea that SL can fill itself with British youngsters and flourish is equally as wrong as the idea that swamping teams with second rate overseas players is wrong. A mixture of incentives at both ends of the spectrum are needed. It's hardly as if the current salary cap rules have ensured parity of competition and removed the danger of financial default after all.

The issue is that most clubs can't even afford the current salary cap so what's the point increasing it? All that will happen is that clubs will overspend even more and some will go to the wall. With aussie incomes for the top players expected to be North of £1/2m a year we can never comepete anyway. The best players will always be attracted to where salaries are highest. It happens in every sport

The real issue is that we're not producing enough good quality youngsters and the issue isn't that there aren't enough kids with the talent around. Player production should be part of the franchise requirement IMO and clubs that don't do it should be penalised