Saddened! wrote:
Strange one. Is the disparity in cap room so big now that we couldn't have kept Josh? Was he particularly looking to move to Union or is this a purely financial move?
It's a big loss to us and one we'll no doubt not even attempt to replace again.
I think we shouldn't underestimate just how much more Union pays "squad players". Jones isn't a superstar, but he is a solid squad player - Cunningham describes him pretty well in that article. In League, such players are often on pretty average wages - £20-40k. In Union, you can add another £20k to that.
The only reason we don't have a mass exodus of our League squad players to Union is because they are, after all, squad players. Union has a significantly larger player base, and plenty of blokes who fit in the "good-but-not-great" category, so they don't really need to come shopping to us, whereas real stars like Burgess will always be in demand across both codes.
Obviously Exeter have seen something in Jones which they like, and they think he'll fit a specific hole in their squad. Good luck to him. I'm not going to begrudge a 22 year-old picking up a huge salary increase to play an easier game. I do wonder whether he's looked at the likes of Lomax and Wheeler, two of his close contemporaries, and decided that his earning career is likely to be significantly extended when he only has to make five tackles a match and carry the ball in once or twice.
