Not for 2026, but wonder if we’ll make a play for Mikey Lewis when he returns from the NRL?

Think Lewis will do well there, think he is better than a few halfbacks already playing regularly in the NRL. If he gets the right team and coach his game should improve even more.

The only way he comes back, is if he gets homesick, like a lot do.

Heard the rumour that he is fully intending on going there in 2026, probably why, Rovers where trying to sign kemp from us.

If he does come back i'd love it to be with us, but we need to be in a much better place than we are now.

Fair play if he does go and tests himself, too many others take the safe option.

SL is in a bit of an odd place really, as a club if you want to bring through players to build around long term you almost don't want to produce superstars as they'll more than likely move on to the NRL. There is sweet spot where they're really good in SL but not quite good enough for the NRL.

The ambitious clubs are held back by the stragglers, the salary cap should be higher than it is to try keep the top talents in SL. They key to being successful is having a top academy, if/when Wigan lose Nsemba to the NRL, there will likely be someone from the academy to take his place

100% Steve on the academy, you can have sort term success like we did in 2016/17, or like Leigh and Rovers are right now, but the only way to have long term success is to have a top academy turning out 2/3 players ready for SL every year.

Wigan have lost a whole host of players to the NRL and also lost young players to other clubs because of the cap, but they have a ready made replacements and continued to succeed.

Saints success came from having homegrown players in key positions and adding in quality overseas players to fill the gaps, same with Wigan who have a homegrown 7 and 9, which means they can have a winger a quota player and luxury prop.

If we can get our academy to start producing two players every year, who are good enough for the 17 of top 6 side, if 3 years you should be challenging at the top.

From what I hear, there was disappointment from Coach Cartwright about some of the mindsets of the younger players - Gardiner and Jebson for example. They seem happy picking up 20k a year and walking around with Hull FC gear on - it's not the mindset of the kids who come through in Australia.

Also - Lasty and Cartwright sat down with the new owners last week and have been told they can have money if they want it. With Lasty's connections with England, he had said if he can get a Matty Lees or a Morgan Knowles, as examples, is the money there - and Thirkell said, if you get a player you want, you will get the money. So that is promising

I agree Dave and I've heard very similar about Lewis & the NRL but it wasn't a rumour, 2026 is very likely to be the year he heads over there. What I was told is that he felt 2025 would be a year too early and wanted to work on his game more before heading over there.

I left V Dock for Melbourne - we TH ought we’d be back within 2 years and 14 years later we’re still in Melbourne.
Lewis may find the beaches of Sydney a tad better than Kilnsea beach

The salary cap should only increase if income levels into the game warrant it. A sport built on being supported by wealthy individuals has no longevity.

The NRL cap is higher because they have massively more TV and sponsorship income

Can't argue with either posts, as Steve says the SL Cap should be higher to try and keep the top home grown talent but there just isn't the money in the British game to even try and raise the Cap without bankrupting the game here. Think the vast gulf between SL & NRL whilst earning potential is a factor for players, having a crack at the NRL is the pinnacle of the sport.

As Dave says you look at Wigan & even St's currently (and Leeds previously) in that they produce a lot of talent, granted not all make it at Wigan etc but they produce enough quality in their respective systems that if they lose one there is another that comes in a fills that spot. It's should be no surprise that Wigan, St's and Leeds have been the 3 dominant successful teams due to their investment and success bringing through quality home grown talent, which is then supplemented with quality overseas players.

That's why I feel there should have been more focus on youth development as part of the grading criteria, to ensure clubs started to invest more in to youth rather than neglecting it to spend alomost everything on first team. By tying youth development in to the grading it would have had a similar affect as it has with clubs getting their grounds, social media etc in order.