best post on here for ages......I wish our game wasnt governed by goons i really do.....'red hall' has held us back for years with half of their imbicilic ideas. I really think if our game was administered by people with the same nouse as their union counterparts our game would be as bigger than union now!!

Whats that old adage?!!

League a game for professionals, run by amateurs

Union a game for amateurs, run by professionals

never a truer word said.....i wish those idiots had some foresight about them....IMO the CC has the potential to set league back to where it was in the 70s, and will do if it is allowed to continue.

We're already seing the start with the declining standards of super league....anyone who argues SL is better than it was 5 years ago is either lieing, deluded, and brainwashed (or eddie and stevo...in which case all of the above!!! )

Fact is, if cas, wakey etc cant afford to spend what wigan/ leeds / saints can GET THE F@@K out of SL or merge!!!!! That was the vision when SL was created....not to dumb the game down to the lowest common denominator and kill the game from the inside out.

If we are to lose out with Sam Tompkins he will just be the tip of the iceburg!!

Heres just hoping hes as much wigan as some of us.....IMO in sam's shoes, had i been good enough to secure my dream of playing for my hometown and the biggest name in world rugby, the crown jewels wouldnt tempt me to turn my back on my town and play that second rate, boring fatties game!!!!

Said this all along

Exactly......its teams like cas, wakey, salford, london etc. that mean we struggle to hold on to talent like Sam Tompkins......and the RFL assist them in doing it through their lack of adventure and foresight.....i mean the JJB again for our biggest international offering epitimises the shortsightedness and lack of ambition by everyone administrating RL!!

I'm with you mate

If some clubs cant live with the big boys then go to the level they can.. The RFL have tried to make it a level playing field..they have..but instead of making the smaller clubs reach the level of a saints or leeds..they have dragged the rest down to the level of the weakest.

This needs to change..If you cant pay the Wages to challenge..its not the rests fault

If there is any truth in this then.

Northampton BOG OFF!!!!

Maybe instead of Noble spouting rubbish about the RFL granting special dispensation to superleague clubs to go out and spend big money on Union players he should be asking them to grant us some sort of way of keeping our own youngsters!!!

He talked about signing a big name Union player on a big deal yet with only say 50k counting towards the cap. He'd be better off touting the idea around where any youngster that comes through your system can only cost a maximum of 'x' amount of pounds on your salry cap with the rest being waived.

Lets just hope sam sees the bigger picture and doesnt buy the union dollar......If i were him i know what id choose........

leading my home town to wembley in front of 30k passionate wigan fans...or being paid 10 times more to play a stagnant game, in front of stagnant prawn sandwich fans, having team mates call timothy, and going for a pims and lemonade after the game!!! No contest really....WIGAN RLFC SAM!!!! Get what you deserve and become the next wigan rl legend!

I hope he shares your vision as well mate.

Ian Lenagan said at the last FF that the accelerate squad, of which Sam T is one, were all now signed on 3 years deals.
Also each year they would be offered a new updated 3 year deal.
This is IL trying to ring fence our best youngsters so that Union won't be able to just step in and take them.
When Ashton left it was because his contract was due to expire within a short period.
It looks as though IL will keep the players he wants by long contract and same as soccer not let his best players have anywhere near just one year left on their deal.
It will also prevent the numpties running Super Dooper League from re-imposing the quite insane 20/20(25) rule again.
Agree the cap is now crippling the game.
Standards are now so low it's terrible.
Leeds played Manley last Sunday and their 6,7 & 13 were McGuire, Burrow & Sinfield.
When Wigan played Manley our 6,7 & 13 was Shaun Edwards, Andy Gregory & Ellery Hanley.
That's the state of the decline. Can anyone anywhere seriously believe that Sinfield is better than Ellery Hanley?
That's of course apart from the chaimen of Super Dooper League clubs one of which is our great and noble leader IL who thinks the salary cap and the decline is in fact an improvement and therefore one must deduce he thinks Sinfield really is better than Hanley!
Actually I don't imagine he does. How though can you watch the constant year on year decline and think the salary cap is a success?

Before you pies get all in a unnecessary tiz, it would be wise to check if Northampton actually need an untried RL player to play at fly half or scrum half.

A quick check shows they have Stephen Myler doing pretty damn well at fly half

Oh and as for scrum half they have a player called Ben Foden who is already in the full England squad.

Would seem a waste to therefore throw big bucks at a young league player