At the Giants Nathan Brown has been brilliant in bringing through British talent. I cannot think of a single british coach that could have done this. By al means send some of our would be coaches on secondment to Oz.

Ok here's one - we hear that Sam Burgess, Gaz Ellis and all the other exports we have in the NRL right now are going to be better players because they are playing alongside some of the best players in the world.



Now when it comes to the Aussies coming here we say we need to reduce the number so more English players get more game time.



So if our home grown players cannot play or train alongside the best in the world unless they more to Australia, how do we expect our 'average' talent to be nurtured into 'great' players?



On the coach issue -



Brian McClennan hadn't coached first grade in the NRL yet was picked to be NZ coach and won a test series, he was then chosen to take Leeds on to title glory. He then took a bunch of expat Aussies and Kiwi's on to beat England after only around 4 days training.



Steve Macnamara took on a Bradford side that was ageing and slightly falling apart but still had enough quality in the side to do the business. He did nothing with them and in the end had to take the England job because he was sure to be out of work within the coming months. He has since done no more than any previous England coach and is highly unlikely to win more than a couple of games over the next two years if he remains as England coach.



If Mac' is the best we can get to do the England job and Bluey was the best NZ could get to do their job (with a lesser pool of players to pick from may I add) the comparison between to two is clear to see and I know who would get the nod if it were between the two for any NRL or SL head coaching appoinments.



What I will say though is that if a club has an Australian head coach his assistants should be English who are there to learn and hopefully progress through the ranks and one day become a head coach like Shaune Wane who I think is a prime example of an English coach that deserves a chance to prove himself.



As I have said before I think the quota should be scrapped and replaced by a rule that states something like 13 of your 17 each week must be federation trained, you can have as many overseas players as you like but on a match day 13 must be federation trained. This would allow for English players to be training alongside more of the better players yet still getting plenty of game time. I would also hope that the salary cap would increase so to allow for better Australians to be brought over now that it is more appealing for them to stay in Aus.

And if too many Aussies and Kiwis in a league prevents young players getting a chance, how come the NRL keeps unearthing new talent?

The quota is a top down answer to a problem that reflects only differences in resources, environment and culture. That its aim was to enhance England's chances vs Australia I always thought unlikely. If you want SL to be more English it'll work. If you want England to be better able to compete with Australia, it'll make not the blindest bit of difference. It was the problem we could provide a solution for, rather than the one we actually faced.

Maybe we do have to nurture our talent, where the Aussies can afford a high rate of attrition - but we're not that wasteful, IMO. If there was a British Billy Slater or Benji Marshall knocking about in the Championship, we would notice.



On coaches, putting them on the quota would be leaky IMO - clubs would use titles like consultant or DoR. Putting a quota in place just shifts the responsibilty from governing body to clubs, it doesn't improve the available British coaches. Clubs will just swallow it and lose the extra quota place/use it as a bonus. A bottom-up solution that actually makes British coaches an attractive proposition would be better. A token gesture would be easier. Doubt we'll get either.

Can anyone clear up why Drew Webster cannot work for HKR as an assistant coach but can as a video annalyst? Is it a Government ruling or an RFL bylaw? I remember there being some trouble getting him in at Rovers so he was given a certain role but actually does the Assitants role.

If the best coaches in the world tend to be Australian - and surely everyone can agree that they are - then surely it is good for the English game that they are here passing on their skill and knowledge to our players and indeed to our budding coaches.



I don't agree with quotas for players either. Whatever we think of Willie Mason it would have been good to see him have a crack at Super League but Rugby League's own self imposed rules prevented it. Why? What good does this do?



I agree with Nick - no quota is necessary but only allow 4 or 5 foreigners to play in any one match. That way home grown players get plenty of chances but there is always opportunity to bring over someone like Willie Mason if you want to.