Big Names on the Market

my bad, its 20...

NRL clubs are set to come under further pressure to keep star players from overseas poachers after the English Super League moved a step closer to expansion.

The Super League wants to expand by two clubs to 14 from 2009.

Negotiations for television rights had been the only stumbling block, but they were settled this week when Sky Sports and the BBC came to a three-year agreement with the Rugby Football League, to cover the 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons.

An extra two clubs in the English competition would likely see more Australians join the exodus to England.

A staggering 20 players have already moved to overseas clubs this year, including Melbourne Storm premiership players centre Matt King (Warrington), Clint Newton (Hull KR) and prop Garret Crossman (Hull KR).

"We've been down this path before," Storm chief executive Brian Waldron said last night.

"We can't do anything about it.

"We just have to try and convince our best players to stay and play in the best competition in the world.

"At the end of the day it's an inferior competition being played in the north of England.

"We simply can't afford to pay players what they're not worth."

Almost 100 former NRL players will feature in the Super League next year. Officials have conceded there is little they can do to stop the player-drain.

Worse still, a new quota system for foreign players is set to increase the number of Test and Origin stars moving to chase more money, with the number of high-profile marquee imports allowed at Super League teams to rise from three to five.

MELBOURNE will prepare for its World Club Challenge clash against Leeds next year with a pre-season grand final rematch with Manly.

The game, which is yet to be confirmed, is expected to be played in Gosford on February 16 -- two days before Melbourne travels to England for the WCC clash at Elland Road.

GREG Inglis yesterday had successful shoulder surgery to repair a large tear in his labrum, the cartilage rim of the shoulder joint.

Storm physiotherapist Mary Toomey said the operation, similar to the one that two-time premiership-winning forward Michael Crocker had mid-season, was a success, with no further damage discovered.

He will be sidelined for up to four months and is a chance to return for the first round on March 14-17 when Melbourne hosts the New Zealand Warriors.
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Right, this might take a while so bear with me.

According to the RFL - www.rfl.uk.com - each SL club can only have 3 overseas players. An overseas player is classed as someone who is resident outside the European Union.

However,
......any Player who has, and can prove to the RFL's satisfaction to have been, resident in the EU (European Union) for an aggregate of 270 days in each of the previous five years shall not be deemed an "overseas Player.
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If a player comes over from Aus or NZ and stays here for five years (Robbie Paul, Maurie Fa'asavalu), he can be taken off the overseas quota thus freeing up a space. But the salary cap provisions still apply.

Clubs over here are making the best of EU laws. It's a big talking point here because the EU laws state that EU citizens can work anywhere within the EU freely. A lot of sports commentators reckon that this makes clubs lazy when it comes to developing homegrown players but it won't change. Only a culture change within UK sports, including RL, can change things.

Hope this helps clear things up but I doubt it'll make it easier to swallow.
 
Cheers, alot more clearer, but how do clubs manage to sign so many players from AUS though. ie 20 went this year. im sure they would have had a few from last year aswell.
 
Knights confident Buderus will stay

SMH | Friday, 30 November 2007

Newcastle officials are reporting a surge of confidence that hooker Danny Buderus will finish his career at the Knights just seven days after he was linked to an immediate departure.
Knights chief executive Steve Burraston yesterday said he was now more confident than he was at the end of the 2007 season that Buderus would re-sign with the Knights for 2009 and beyond.
Buderus is off contract at the end of next season and was expected to quit the NRL to play out his career in the UK. And in a further sign of his apparent disenchantment at the club, the Knights were last week forced to douse speculation that the 29-year-old was set to ask for a release to join his former coach Michael Hagan at Parramatta.
But Burraston said he was almost certain Buderus would never play against the club, and while admitting he would give him "breathing space" before starting talks, said Buderus's "attitude" towards the Knights had turned around significantly.
"Towards the end of last season, he had a number of injuries and he probably shouldn't have played," Burraston said. "He came back early and I saw him after the matches and he was always iced up - it probably affected his attitude a bit. But he's refreshed. He's over those injuries, and he's training like an 18-year-old. I'm very positive about his playing future.
"Everything's positive for us, and I think that helps. There were a number of negatives around the club [during last season] which affected everyone's attitude. But we've put that behind us.
"I think he'll get his Test spot back some time during 2008 and he'll play State of Origin, as well. He knows he's still up to that sort of level. I'm certainly more confident than I was at the end of the season that we'll be able to retain him and that he'll finish off his career at the Knights.
"We're mindful of England. We know one of his ambitions is to play over there. He's really good mates with [former Knight and now St Helens centre] Matt Gidley, who we hope to have back at the club when he finishes. We wouldn't stop [Buderus] from doing that if that's what he wants to do. But I'm pretty confident it'll be the Knights or nobody."
Burraston is also confident the club will secure fullback Kurt Gidley, despite Souths officials already flagging interest in the Test and Origin representative.
"We want to retain him and he wants to stay here," he said. "He has an option in his favour [for 2009], but we'll be discussing that in coming weeks with his management. I wouldn't expect that to go the wrong way for us."
Meanwhile, Melbourne's Greg Inglis was released from hospital yesterday and the club's medical staff is hopeful that he might not miss any NRL games. Storm physiotherapist Mary Toomey said Inglis had emerged from shoulder surgery with the "best possible outcome" and was hopeful he would be fit for round one.
"It was a simple tear and it was easily fixed," said Toomey, giving Inglis a 12-week recovery.
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Bulldogs bite in feeding frenzy

THE cashed-up Bulldogs are poised to embark on one of the biggest recruitment drives in the club's history with teenage superstar Israel Folau their No.1 target.

It is reckoned that $13.5 million worth of playing talent is coming off-contract at the end of 2008.

And the Bulldogs declared game on when they revealed they were in the market for a number of "high quality" players including Folau and Parramatta star Krisnan Inu.

"We are going to be in there boxing with everyone else," Bulldogs recruitment manager Keith Onslow said.

"Our plan is to be quite active in the market and we are in the hunt for players. I am working through it as we speak. The players you have mentioned are on our list."

The shock departures of Brent Sherwin and Willie Mason has left the club about $700,000 under the salary cap for season 2008.

But instead of spending the money this season, Onslow revealed the club will front-load contracts in 2008 in a move which could give the Bulldogs a $1 million war chest for the following year.

"We are working through it with a few at the moment," Onslow said. "The plan is to top-load their contracts. Over the two years they will still be getting the same money but they have to look at their own cash flow situation and make sure they aren't left short in the second year."

Onslow confirmed the Bulldogs had begun recruitment for 2009.

"There are no rules so we have already started," Onslow said.

"The players are on the market 24/7 so we have already begun. We are looking at outside backs, inside backs and front-rowers. There is plenty out there and we are working through it at the moment.

The Bulldogs have already approached Folau's management about a switch to Belmore. However the giant teenager said he would not make a decision about his future until next year.

"I'm not worrying too much about that," Folau said.

"I've got one year for Melbourne and I'm going to play that out and then worry about that at the end of the season. All I'm thinking about is training hard, doing my full pre-season with Storm and hopefully I can get another good year."

Asked if he thought the contract talks could prove a distraction, Folau said: "No, not at all. I've got a lot of good help around me with the coaching staff at Melbourne and also that players and my family. It's not a hassle at all."

But the 18-year-old destroyer is just one of the many genuine stars of the game who will have the opportunity of testing the 2009 market.

Brett Stewart, Jarryd Hayne, Matt Cooper, Kurt Gidley and Benji Marshall. Joining them are New South Wales and Queensland rakes - Danny Buderus and Cameron Smith as well as a wealth of valuable clubmen such as Steve Price, Ruben Wiki, Aaron Payne and Tonie Carroll. The Gold Coast Titans alone have 17 of their top 25 players off-contract beyond next year.

Leading player managers predicted rugby league's biggest game of chess would truly move into gear after Christmas.

High-profile agent George Mimis said clubs were still finalising their cap for 2008 and moving players into the revamped under-20 competition.

Currently locked in negotiations with Manly on behalf of Stewart, Mimis sought-after stars would present a challenge to poachers.

"It's quite rare to shop around a marquee player in the first instance, unless they are unhappy where they are," Mimis said.

"The club's generally have a good idea of their market value."

But should the likes of Folau and Inu delay their decisions, Mimis predicted ramifications for the entire market.

Folau said he does not want to enter negotiations until after the grand final, and therefore looms as the $400,000 missing piece to this year's transfer puzzle.

"We saw the situation last year where guys like Civoniceva, Berrigan, Hodges, Ryles and Hornby weren't put to bed until late May," he said.

"The market was stalled until they decided what to do. There are some players this year - like Folau - with the same potential."

The electrifying Matt Bowen was on the list until last week - when the Cowboys roped him in until after 2012.

North Queensland CEO Peter Parr said the club was keen to secure Bowen more than 12 months out, safe in the knowledge his form was slump-proof.

"With some of the other guys, we want to see that they are playing reasonable football before we commit ourselves," Parr said.
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Doubt they'll get either Inu or Folau. They both seem pretty eager to stay at Parra and Melbourne respectively.
 
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