Cooper Cronk

[billy2]

The other side of the coin, from a Newcastle point of view, is that Uate has amassed a retirement fund pool of about 100k already, and by the time his contract with us is up it might be 200 or 300k - which means if Union wants to sign him they will need to offer him what the Knights offer + what he expects to earn in rep games + the 300k retirement fund he would forfiet by walking away from League - so if we go 600k they will need to come up with 1 mill or so.

 

[Frederick]

What I dont like is that a guy like Hayne plays SOO, but isnt selected for Aus, he cant go and play for Fiji in the WC.

Wouldnt it make more sense for players that arent selected for NZ or Aus could play for their "home" nation.

I think it would certainly improve the quality of Internationals.

The problem with this is you could have players playing for Aus or NZ in the Anzac test, and a completely different nation at the end of the year, which pretty much makes a farce of it all.

Then there's the possibility where one player (for arguments sake, Hayne) misses selection for Aus behind aku and Yow yeh, so gets picked for Fiji. Aku/yow yeh pulls out due to injury, and Hayne is next in line...so what happens? Does Hayne pull out of Fiji to play for Australia? The two countries would get in a war over the player because he's not restricted to one nation.

 

[Newie is God's Country]

Given the fact Rugby League is run by self serving pen pushers who still have not actually got the independent commission up and running, then the chances of an international game being worth a damn is decades away at best. The champions league (ESl and NRL top four clubs playing each other in an 8 team knockout comp) club idea was an excellent one in my view and in actual fact you could invite the pacific nations into a club comp like that. They would get annual exposure to top line football for a start and better yet the players born there would be more inclined to turn out for their nation. It is along shot but league needs to think outside the box and in a big way. A trade window is a must. Outside of that window any player or coach signings must be made post season. Heavy fines and club season long expolsion from the comp for those who are found guilty of player tap ups. I am sick of the media going overboard every time a top line player wants out of a club. It destroys the fans faith in the game.