Thanks also, Jack. Please see the above apologia.

Good luck at The Egerton tomorrow night. Could Jack offer a very concerned suggestion for Bongser. Please take (and wear) a very hard hat and expect incoming missiles! The natives are very restless at the moment.

Yes, to question 1 in respect of the salary cap.

Jack's understanding is based upon recent articles rather than on a strict legal basis.

Salford are required to field a team against Midlands Hurricanes whose combined salaries (Salford's players) are below the imposed salary cap figure. To do that they either play their highest paid players and a team of academy children or, more likely, pick a team but with the top earners (probably Sneyd and Watkins amongst them) left out. Those who play will be fixed salary wise to count towards the cap figure because they will by that point be registered as Salford players for the coming season.

If the above is right then if Sneyd for example is left out of the team against Midlands Hurricanes then he will effectively be surplus and will have to be sold - pronto.

I seem to recall reading an article on the Salford situation which stated that the RFL were ‘holding the purse strings’ regarding the £500K granted ‘on account’ to the Devils. If this is accurate I wonder if the RFL would approve salary payments to unregistered players.

I think the whole point of the £500k advance was because they had no funding to cover their running costs and player salaries since November. In all probability it has already been spent and is not sitting there as a nest egg.

Without that money they would have had to go bust.

This most recent pay date of this Thursday was crucial to them to see if there was enough of that £500k left to pay this months wages. By all accounts there was just enough.

At the moment they just do not have enough money to keep running

Reported by the BBC
"It is important to add that the advancement monies were held by RL Commercial and payments administered directly from them - the club have never been given the funds to manage directly."
£500K appears to be the amount required to cover 3 months of Player salaries.

I think Bongser will be fine. The SRD fans are now blaming everything on Yorkshire bias. It is fault of Yorkshire clubs and Yorkshire "Jernos" (sic). Anybody from Lancashire and Cheshire will probably get a bye.

all getting a bit rubber neckin

AOK Bumper. The Egerton is by a Rail Station and on a major bus artery. We see Leigh fans (plural) and those of Wigan, Rochdale, Oldham, Leeds et al - tonight was sitting beside a KR fan! But since Skeletor Pete died (RIP) & John o' the big 'onds (soubriquet as we have too many Johns) took home his bat & ball, we get zero Salford fans and therein lies The Devils' biggest problem; Salford is rammed with Utd fans, few Salford RD fans. Unsustainable (though tragic).

On that basis I think new contracts would only make any difference if players were agreeing to take pay cuts.