Yeh I agree with this to an extent, but there has to be something in place where clubs have the right to keep hold of the players they have spent years developing. People dont want the cap raising so that the rich teams can create a team of super stars while the lower clubs cant compete. Its not fair on the teams producing top class youngsters who then have to either get rid of them or watch on helplessly as they are poached to RU because their hands are tied due to the cap. This is what happened at Melbourne, they were effectively punished because they had developed Slater, Inglis, Smith, Folau, Cronk etc and to pay them what they were worth, they broke the SC.



The talk of "talent distribution" throughout the league is right but it shouldnt be up to only a few teams to develop enough good young players for everyone.

Clubs in the Aviva Premiership will have one player excluded from the cap from 2012.



The cap will increase from £4 to £4.26 with academy credits taking it to the final sum of £4.5



Think the RFL need to pull there thumb out quick.



We need similar guidlines in League asap

The clubs themselves decide if the salary cap should be increased not the RFL



The salary cap needs to be based on what we can afford and what makes it fair for all clubs

But as Ian Lenagan stated at the fan's forum - It should increase in line with inflation. Otherwise it is technically DEcreasing year on year.



Trouble is, the little and/or poor clubs keep voting against any increase.



This will eventually kill the sport

Yet again, the big clubs (Wigan, Warrington, Saints, Leeds, Hull, Hull KR, Huddersfield) are the top clubs. With the cream of the British game coming from it. I bet you could pick a whole England squad from those teams and it would be very competitive.



However, clubs like (Castleford, Wakefield, Crusaders, Harlequins, Bradford) are all doing poorly. They generally have poor stadiums, poor squads, poor games, and ultimately poor crowds.



I think it is time for the RFL to realise this and make it so that the teams with big attendances and strong youth developments can be helped. And the teams with poor attendances and poor youth systems can be let free.

You're right. This is outrageous. If the boot was on the other foot, you'd never catch Rugby League consistently buying young Union players from say Wales for over 100 years or anything.

Boston, Sullivan, Quinnell, Gibbs, Davies, Young, Devereux, Bateman, Tatupu, Botica, Gallagher, Innes, Offiah...

best there was

best what?

And didn't IL mention a new rule about Union players wouldn't count on the cap for their first season in league?

Union people always complained to me about RL taking their best players, which we did for the most part. My reply was that it was up to them to sort their problem out.

With circumstances reversed my feelings are the same, if RL now has a problem it is up to us to sort it out. Don't blame Union!



Down Under, Gallop admitted that after the Canterbury and Melbourne cap scandals the system had failed and they were looking to replace the cap with a better system which would be transparent as well as take their game forward.

We should do the same and quickly. What we don't need is ending up adopting an NRL system into SL as a panic measure as we haven't worked out something better than the SC for ourselves.

tuigamala..george fairburn?