RSN

BBC reporting that Wire have signed Peta Hiku, which is a cracking signing.

For this level he will be an exceptional signing. Any other club in the league would be very happy to have him. He won't get them to being a super league side, but a short term payday and getting over the part time players in league 1 it's a great addition. He won't be at Toronto for more than a couple of years.

Don't see how George Burgess can warrant a place in anyone's side. He has been poor for over 12 months and is a knock on machine. Form from 2015 should not be getting you in the side especially with the forwards we have at our disposal. I'd go: Zak Hardaker Jermaine McGilvary Michael Shenton Dan Sarginson Ryan Hall Gareth Widdop George Williams James Graham Josh Hodgson Chris Hill Jon Bateman Elliot Whitehead Sean O Loughlin Daryl Clark Scott Taylor Andre Savelio Sam Burgess I've checked a few times and I think that meets the 3 per club rule.

Leeds had a core of players for the best part of a decade who accepted taking a lower wage than they could probably get elsewhere to be part of a squad which wins trophies. Players like Sinfield, McGuire, JJB, Hall ect have all openly spoken about how they have had offers to earn more money elsewhere but snubbed them to be part of a group which wins trophies. The group was formed by a few good signings and a decent number of players coming through at the same time. For Leeds to purchase someone who would have the same impact on their side as let's say Sinfield or McGuire would probably have to spend 2 or 3 times their wages which the salary cap stops them from doing.

This year's teams were massively unbalanced IMO. The Indigenous side would of beaten the NRL all stars 9 times out of 10. Hadn't every single Indigenous side apart from 2 players played at Origin level or higher? If they wanted to go with a concept of one from each team then 4 random players. I'd go: James Tedesco, Semi Radradra, Gerard Beale, Jarrad Hayne, Jordan Rapana, Matt Moylan, Shaun Johnson, Jarred Warea Hargreaves, Cameron Smith, James Graham, Sam Burgess, Martin Tapau, Jason Tamoulolo Bench: Sione Matatuai, Tyson Frizell, Matt Gillet, Jesse Bromwich, Josh Hodgson, DCE, George Burgess That would be much more competitive.

He struggled to find his feet at first, not to sure who is to blame out of that one. The Roosters didn't really give him a run of games to gain any confidence but his performances weren't exactly up to scratch. Once he moved to Souths and he got a run of games together he improved massively and started looking very dangerous. He got robbed of a try by the video ref against Manly where he turned TT inside out and scored quite a few decent tries requiring difficult finishes in the corner. It felt like he was turning a corner. I think in 20 years time he will regret his decision.

Can't really argue with Cronk tbf. Been oustanding at all 3 levels he has played at this year and won 3/4 trophies this year he played for. Smith wad a close 2nd with Tamauolo and Thurston 3Rd and 4th.

It's funny how people can get 'home sick' to be offered more money at home. Think we will get a season or 2 of Aussies/Kiwis being homesick because of the cap increase between NRL and SL.

He is mad. He states that we should only serve to the elite clubs, these elite clubs are Leeds, Wigan, St Helens, Warrington and a merged Hull side. These are his definition of an elite club. So we have a 5 team league battling it out week in week out. Bet the fans turn out in droves...

I've been posting and reading this forum for years. Cheers for that I'll take note.

You aren't even worth debating with. To go into why NRL is ahead of SL is a very layered debate. There is a 1000 reasons why and you can't just blame it on one thing. I love watching both competitions. I can watch all forms of RL without a chip on my shoulder. Which probably makes me more fortunate than you. Back on thread - who are people thinking are going to win next year based on recruitment so far? I personally think the Panthers will be up there, Tamou will be a real asset for then and they have some exciting young players who will of benefited with another season under their belts. I think Cronulla will drop off a lot this year. They've lost a lot of experience in the off season which I think won them a lot of games last year.

It you think it's as simple as he is making out then you are mental. The 2 sports are in 2 completely different economic environments hence why one is doing much better than the other. SL has an absolutely juggernaut in football trading in the same country. Have you seen how many people have season tickets? The scale of it dwarfs anything in Australia. The NRL are fortunate they don't have much competition apart from Aussie Rules, RU and soccer but even if you add all 3 of them together they don't come close to how many people attend a football game in the UK on a Saturday. SL has lots to work on. But if you think that the reason the NRL is doing much better than SL because of the league structure then you are absolutely mental. There is a 1000 reasons which go into it and you can't just use one as your argument.

I'll be shocked if Workington finish 2nd. Their recruitment so far this year seems to be sell their better players to Barrow and replace them with young amateur players. Not exactly a recipe for finishing 2nd.

As it's the off season and there is barely any RL to watch on the TV I have started watching a few of the old matches from the 2016 season. I have had a browse on YouTube and had a look through old games to see what there is on offer. The thing which really stood out for me was the difference in standard between NRL exposure and SL exposure and the quality of the videos. It obviously helps with the NRL having all their games televised, but the game by game highlights and other videos are on a completely different level. The game by game highlights videos have a voice over on the NRL ones which goes over the live game commentary and puts a bit of structure into it. It comes across as way more professional as opposed to the SL ones which are just videos of the games. Then there is the montages of NRL players and their highlights. These videos portray them as superstars and attract attention from people who don't watch the game and spreads their name. There is these sort of videos for countless NRL players whilst there is minimal ones for SL players and if they are made they aren't half as good. Is this something the RFL should be looking to improve on for SL? I know a lot of the NRL videos are made by private individuals, but surely if the RFL employ someone to do this sort of thing it will spread the game to more people. With smart TVs coming in which have direct access to YouTube and the vast majority of people under 16 going on YouTube on a regular basis surely it is a very cheap and easy way to promote the sport to people. What are people's thoughts?

Realistically he should of been picked in 2011 but unfortunately the coach had picked his halve back combination well in advance of the tournament hence he didn't get a look in. I think picking him now would be an act of desperation. I think the difference between us and the halves with have picked is that he has a bit of arrogance about him which you need to be a halve pack. Against New Zealand Brough had more talented players playing alongside him yet he controlled it. Our halves don't seem to do that.