goldcoaster

I'm curious to fully understand how the quota works nowadays as it's been quite a few years since I've considered the quota for Super League - certainly haven't thought how it works post-Brexit. When Brexit happened I understand the confusing Kolpak rule no longer applied. Kolpak of course meant that back then even though there was a quota, every second player got an exemption so the whole thing was pointless. The current overseas quota for each SL club is 7 as I understand it. And that 7 includes all non-British players. Are their plans to reduce the current overseas quota at all? And how does it apply to Catalans (and presumably Toulouse if/when they are promoted)? do they still have pretty loose restrictions on overseas players? And do English players count as overseas players for the French teams?

Fantastic news that (it looks like) Wheldon Rd is getting an upgrade hot on the heels of Belle Vue's upgrade. Wheldon Rd is a nice old ground, but it needs an upgrade. I'm heading to Cas for the first time in 10 years for the Easter match v Leeds - it will be good to visit the old ground one final time before it is re-done.

From Courier Mail

A PNG team can work and would be a good addition to the NRL. But it has to PNG only - not a generic ‘Pacific’ team. Otherwise it fall into the trap of trying to be all things to all people (and end up being not much) PNG has twice as many people as New Zealand. It doesn’t need to share a club with other Pacific nations

Who is the guy he claiming is the “best prop in the world”?

How many points do you get for a win here?

I think this isn’t pie in the sky stuff - I can’t see this one not going ahead. And with Belle Vue getting a revamp too, we may actually have a SL where all clubs play in modern stadiums. IMO, I’m glad Cas and Wakey are going down the renovation route rather than the new ground route - it maintains the history while providing modern facilities.

I hope this does come off for the club, but even with this build Belle Vue still would struggle to be one of the top 20 RL grounds in the 3 tiers of RL. That's pretty bad for a SL club. However it isn't their fault - their only crime was perhaps making some ill-advised announcements on plans when they didn't really have anything concrete. After all, some of the strongest clubs in the NRL play in absolute dumps - Manly and the Wests Tigers for starters. It doesn't make them bad clubs.

As a Titans fan, there have been few positives in 2019, the only players that can hold their heads high are Brimson, Sami, Arrow, Wallace and Jacks. The rest can find employment elsewhere as far as I’m concerned. On Watkins, I expected when we bought an international centre who showed great class and skill in the 2017 WC that he would give our backline a real boost. But he has been as bad as the rest of the team.

Both Watkins and Hall will have to go down as flops in 2019. I hope though they both stick at it and put in good pre-seasons and give the NRL a red-hot crack in 2020. Too many English players give the NRL a half-assed go and when they struggle, they run home with their tails between their legs. Hall went to the wrong club in my view - would be better served at a club with a thinner roster. I think both guys can succeed in the NRL if they have the right attitude and persevere

Which is why P&R is a disaster. If there isn't the talent for annual P&R in the UK, then new clubs shouldn't be aloud in every year. I don't think the NRL has the talent depth for 16 stable teams, and SL probably only has enough talent for 10 English teams at a push. Hull KR is a good reason not to bring back P&R.

While I accept they have reduced their reliance on imports from about 12 a couple of years ago, to the present level. However they still have far too many and have consistently had the largest number of imports in the league since they entered in 2007, including bending every rule available to ensure they have the maximum number of imports they can (Willie Masons Tongan passport?). It's not a good look when they seem to be the only club still bringing over multiple numbers of imports every year. You guys keep defending them too, which is why you open ourselves up for criticism. I want to see a competitive and winning England team as the ultimate goal. We cant achieve that if all clubs are like Hull KR as it would mean England wouldn't be able to scratch a team together

Cosigan is Australian- played for Qld.Blake Green is a reserve grader. If Wigan paid more than 50p for him, they've been ripped off. If Hull KR fans want to shake the tag of being a retirement home for reserve grade Ausssies, put pressure on your club and demand the club recruits more British players. Hull KR will have a better chance of winning trophies than they do now. I don't dislike Hull KR, just their Australian-only recruitment policy. It's doing nothing for the club or British Rugby League

So Keating, Weyman and Costigan all going to Hull KR. Good to see their 'Australian-Only' policy continuing. Next year will be their 8th season in super League, and they still have done no junior development and continue to rely 100% on b-grade Aussie imports.

I always liked Brett as a player at the Titans. Always gave 100%. However, like others on here, I think 5 years is a bit much, as 5 year deals are usually only reserved for the best players and coaches going around- apart from John Cartwright....

I've always been a big admirer of Lee. A great creative player. I do think though, Gareth O'Brien will probably leave now though. He won't want to be constantly loaned out again. Could be a good pick-up for a rival SL outfit

Great. Another Australian at Hull KR. They just got Weyman and are in the market for an Aussie halfback too. Been in SL since 2007, and still haven't developed one decent player of their own, and still rely on more than 50% of the team being Aussies.

So SL is only for 3 teams? You'd rather elite players go to union. It shows you are only interested in Fev. Nothing else, and you don't care about the game of Rugby League. the reason i'm so vocal about this is I love Rugby League, and to wake up this morning and read that one of only 2 elite competitions in the world is essentially dead, is pretty terrible news.

Sport may all be about who comes out on top, but professional sport is about much more. It's about strategy, marketability and the sport is essentially a product to be sold to the masses. This decision didn't take any of these factors into account, and there is no way a competent sports administrator like David Gallop or Richard Lewis would have allowed it to go through.

Spot on. None of the CC teams are worth having in the top flight. They are small-town 'park football' teams. It would be like the NRL saying the winner of group 9 Country RL can be promoted to the NRL the following season because they won the grand final. Or The English Premier League offering promotion to the winning Blue Square Premier team straight to the EPL. It will all end in disaster and the death of British RL. The only people happy about this are fans of CC clubs, because of their own self-interest.

Sounds good for who? Featherstone? It's not good for anybody else.

Exciting for who? The current SL season is very exciting, with up to 6 clubs capable of winning the league. This won't be the case after this season.

So for those that think this is a good idea, answer these questions: a) So a team has an injury crisis (i.e. like Saints atm) and finish in the relegation spots as a result. Is it fair that that club essentially has to make all its staff redundant and lose all its players in order to go to a semi-pro team? Then if it survives and gets promoted again, it has to re-build all those structures and systems again from scratch, and recruit an entire new team? When a team is promoted, it will essentially recruit the players from the relegated team, and include 10-12 reserve-grade standard Australians as it is 'necessary for survival'. So does RL development go out the window for that club? c) The same thing for those near the bottom, none will invest and give young players a chance (which they do now under licensing), and will recruit foreign imports en masse instead. So where does England's young players come from then in future? The game can't rely on 2-3 clubs to develop it's talent. d) What happens when Catalans get relegated, and subsequently revert to the semi-pro French RL? Is that the end of trying to promote the French game? e) What happens to investors (like Dr. Koukash, Andrew Glover etc.) once their team is relegated? They will walk away from the game and the club will go out of business? f) What happens when Super League consists entirely of teams from small northern towns like Featherstone, Keighley, Halifax, Leigh etc. playing in front of 3,000 fans? How much will our TV rights be worth? I'd like to see the pro-P&R fans come up with constructive answers to this. The fact is, P&R returning is the worst thing that can happen to RL. It will be the death of the game.

Because they weren't given an option that didn't involve P&R

If I was the RFU, I'd look at recruiting the top 6 SL clubs to come into the Aviva Premiership. Surely they would consider switching given the basket-case SL has now become, and the RFU would benefit from a big presence in the north. SL has essentially committed Hari Kari last night bringing back P&R, so as much as I dislike Union, switching codes is probably the only hope for SL's big clubs.