You forget to mention current international players like Chris Bridge & Ben Westwood, aswell as Jon Clarke. All these must be on a wedge too.

I think the RFL should start a live cap, probably reviewed by independant accountants on a monthly basis, to ensure clubs don't breach the cap. When Warrington get caught out, which is inevitable considering the array of 'seasoned professionals' they have, they should hire top notch lawyers to appear on their behalf at RL HQ and get them off on a technicality to avoid serious punishment ie, relegation.

Now that would take the audacity of cheating to a new level, especially if they did it two years running with no intention of staying within the cap after being caught the first time.

Couldn't agree more, LMS is so overrated on here its unreal.

He'd inevitably be a big letdown if he did sign for Wigan given the hype some have given him.

Nice to see a Wire fan with realistic expectations for the future

If Warrington are exceeding the salary cap with this team including the new signings then good luck to them.
I don't know how anyone can think they are the first to do it and get away with it.
With clubs having connections the world over it is so simple to pay a player from an overseas company into a player's bank account, especially if that's overseas.
The money won't come within thousands of miles of the UK never mind club's accounts, the RFL or anyone else here in this country.
What I find quite staggering is that people in the RFL think that this cannot be done and won't be done.
The RFL think the salary cap has financial integrity, poor fools!
IL will pay what he feels Wigan can afford under their current financial situation together with who/what provides value for money.
The club is financially better run now under IL's management than for decades if ever.
I trust him to bring in the players MM needs and sort out the finances the way he thinks fit. Also I have no doubt that things will happen on the player front now MM is in post and he's IL's man.

Wigan didn't actually break the cap. The RFL acknowledged this. What Wigan did to stay under the cap was defer wages, a practice common in the NRL.

What Wigan got done for was finding a way around the cap so were considered to have broken the "spirit of the cap".

Now my little Wire friend, if Wire are technically under the cap - as Wigan were, but have found a way around the cap, as Wigan did, I take it we can count on your support for your club to be thrown out of the league due to them having also broken the spirit of the cap?

Dave

I see him more in the Coley mould to be honest, in fact he reminds me very much of Franny Stephenson when he was playing at Wakefield.

Absolutely correct Dave, in fact the RFL went so far as modifying the salary cap rules to make it illegal in the 2008 edition of the rules, so clearly even they felt it wasn't clear cut.

All Wigan did was defer some of the payment of a players salary from year 1 to year 2 which wasn't excluded in the rules at the time, the RFL however felt this was against the 'spirit' of the cap. They didn't even pay the players the money that was deferred.

The rules since then, make it so that a player's salary cap liability counts regardless of whether he received the payment or not.

In a strange set of circumstances this also allows players to earn and be paid more than their salary cap value in several circumstances, and it would not surprise me in the least if this is what some clubs are now trying to maximise.

Interestingly though the 2008 rules prevent the deferred payment on an adhoc basis, they perfectly allow sliding contracts with different payment amounts in different years, provided they are defined in the contract at the time.

Been told that if carmont doesnt take the year he's been offered Roberts will be our fullback next year, phelps to centre and ainscough to get the number 2 shirt.

Phelps in the centre....tried tested and failed...big time!

Yep. I'd prefer him on the wing and stick Goulding or someone in the centres.