I think if players are going to go to RU then they really should've had an existing interest in it. Sinfield has said before how he's wanted to try it for a while so you imagine he follows it and knows the jist of what's going on. Some guys who have made the move you wonder just how much (if any) RU they've actually ever watched before making the move. Didn't Sam Tomkins say something along the lines of he's never really watched a game of RU before he made his Barbarians appearance a few years back.

Yeah, that's what they think. That they'll become a sporting icon playing in front of 70k.

If that's what they want, then good luck to them.



Union and League are like Chalk and Cheese. But Chalk doesn't taste as nice as Cheese.

The chalk may not taste very nice, but it gives you a paid off mortgage with disposable income to invest and grow for financial freedom.

Correct. Why should a professional player that has won everything in our game not seek a better opportunity and a new challenge which will secure his financial future in a big way. He will earn at least double his basic and should double that again with off field deals.



In addition someone with Watkins skills will almost certainly make it in to the English squad where he will get the chance to star on the big stage around the world and hit the earnings jackpot and line up a second career after he retires.



To suggest that he is somehow a traitor or shouldn't take the chance if offered is small minded and a bit hypocritical when you consider how League used the cheque book to attract so many Union stars that enriched our game so much.

If it works out well. What about the cases of Chev Walker and Lee Smith. Come back a year or less later, your stock having dropped. Picked up in one case by HKR never to be the player or expect the wages you could had you stayed.



For the short period they were in RU, do you think those two players over the next 5-6 years made less money than if they'd have stayed at Leeds, carried on being a part of our successes and rewarded by the club.



I'd suggest both have made less money in their careers because of a short stay in RU derailing their careers.

Where would Watkins play in union? Outside centre would be the obvious choice, but Bath, and England already have Joseph who is similar in style to Watkins. Like Burgess, it would be a waste of talent.

But neither of these players were good enough so not relevant to the current discussion. Watkins is a totally different proposition. Only the very best will make the transition

He could start on the wing but could play in either centre positions. But top Union clubs have bigger squads and rotate

How good he is in RL is not a given on how he'll succeed in RU. It's like the players who have came over from the NRL, their's been good players who have failed in Super League....their's been unknown guys who have been successful. You have no idea how Watkins would settle and enjoy and adapt to RU.

Both were internationals and Chev, in particular was a very prodigious league talent, bursting on the scene in a bigger way than Watkins, though without his natural talent. You're doing Chev a real dis-service. I think he is a very salutary lesson for how it can ruin your career if you do not settle and make the transition.

Could be a Chev Walker or Lee Smith, but equally could be an Israel Folau or Jason Robinson.