Ceejames wrote:How has cahill been given a visa? Who at the RFL approved this..and why?

This bloke managed around 5 1st team games last year. In a team with nothing to play for and with a great opportunity to 'blood' new players Cahill gets 5 games.

He has never played for an international team. The best he has managed is an appearance for the 'ethnic' maoris.

Does the british game improve by bringing in players like this?

boost wrote:Shall we send home every overseas player, without a cap for Australia or New Zealand?

[Did I say we should? Players with limited NRL experience should prove themselves in Oz first. The kneejerk signing of Oz fringe players is a poor option]


Didn't a Maori team hold England team to a draw in a warm up game before the four nations?

[Does that result may them an independent country - wow that was a high stakes game! I think cahill scraped into that side for a game around 3 years ago ]

boost wrote:Shall we send home every overseas player, without a cap for Australia or New Zealand?
no! just the ones making little impact and keeping young british players out of our game
Didn't a Maori team hold England team to a draw in a warm up game before the four nations?

kinleycat wrote:and this will happen more and more as long as young british players are being kept out at the expense of non british players

this is not a criticism of crusaders, as all clubs do it, but we are heading backwards at international level, PNG will be beating us soon.
the criticism i do have of crusaders is that there is probably too much of a reliance on overseas, ageing and non welsh players in your team, that seems to go against the grain of developing the welsh national side.
half arsed foreigners do nothing for the clubs they come to, perhaps that is one reason that your gates are very poor.

kinleycat wrote:But surely you take my point, players like this are stifling our game.
The whole point of the crusaders is to develop the game in Wales and the brig through welsh players to SL and international standard.
Take the game against salford, average age 29, a string of players not eligible for any home nation and several players over 30 offering no future to any international team.
Is it any wonder we can't compete with Aus, NZ even the maoris are now a struggle and PNG look like a rapidly improving outfit.
This is not just a Crusaders issue, all clubs are guilty and as you say by my argument there would be no room for players like JD.
For my money he went on a year too long, but he was club captain and had previously been far from average, so the comparison is not really very accurate.

boost wrote:But he paid his own way over and wasn't a star in the NRL. Once Clinton and Thomas leave the average age will drop sharpely
I would love us to have as many home grown players as Hull or Leeds but these things take time.

kinleycat wrote:no reason to have such a player then.