I was told on Saturday that the deal has no NRL get out clause transfer fee or not.

There’s more chance of a SL club signing him than an NL club before 2027.

I guess we’ll find out how true this is over the next few years.

You were also told it was to 2028 as per your post on redvee.

Just saying

Yeah was a year out. You got me. Although technically the end of 2027 (which it is) is the start of 2028

Shall we look at the info you’ve told us all on here about transfers?

Just saying

Probably but the floodgates are still being held back which is a positive. The marquee player rule has turned out to be a very smart move.

Pure speculation on my part I must say, I’ve no basis for thinking it, it’s just the way things generally go.

I agree regarding the marquee rule, perversely though I would like to see both go to the NRL because I don’t think either have a chance of getting to achieve their potential playing in SL.

It’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation. I’d love them to play in a comp in SL that can compete with the standard of the NRL, and then leaving would weaken the competition but it’s at the moment the only way we will get to see how good they can be.

Not sure how we can resolve that certainly not in the short term anyway.

You must remember Luke Thompson won’t ever sign for Wigan

I don't think Welsby will ever go to the NRL. Hopefully some of ours follow suit. The Marquee rule allows this and I think there should be more leeway for players that come thru a club from a really young age to first team to help us keep our best players in our competition

Well, a start would be not wanting players to go just to see how good they'd be! Keep devaluing the comp like that and it's an ever decreasing circle. Here's a radical thought: his about we fight tooth and nail to keep the best players in this comp and build from there...

It’s not devaluing the comp it’s stating a fact.

The NRL is levels above SL.

I’m personally an internationalist. I’d give just about anything to see England consistently compete with the Australian and Kiwi teams over any club accolades we could achieve.

For that to happen we need English qualified players playing at the top of their game and unfortunately the only way they will do that is by playing at the highest possible level week in week out they can and that isn’t in SL.

Obviously so go and get found out but others go and take their game to levels we hadn’t seen them produce before.

The only way realistically we get up to NRL levels is improve the participation numbers at grass roots levels and the pathways to SL. Something historically is happening between Academy and SL that sees English players not progress at the levels their Australian based peers do.

There is no quick fix sadly.

I have always wondered how this viewpoint translates to people such as O'loughlin, Andy Farrell, Roby, Peacock etc.

We have many players who made a name for themselves without needing to go to the NRL to prove it. If you are a player on top of your game, you will be guarenteed an England shirt (and i would expect Smith and Welsby to hold theirs now for a long time) and eventually you will get a chanve to prove yourself against the NRL players in test series. I saw a calendar not so long ago for IRL and we are pencilled in for test series vs. Oz and NZ before the end of both players contracts if i remember correctly, along with the Tonga series just gone (mostly NRL players) and hopefully Samoa next year (again NRL players).

Welsby already seems to have made a name for himself in NRL circles as if you follow any, basically every clubs fans wanted to sign him and talk about what a good player he is. Not really sure how this came about, but goes to show.

I’m not sure it’s true most clubs fans want to sign him but he’s certainly a known entity over there. I think that has a lot to do with James Graham who has been championing him and has a prominent place in the media as well as a successful podcast.

I think it’s fantastic we have an international calendar in place and I’m confident we will turn over the Samoan team (if they come) in 2024 as I’ve also no doubt some key players will be withdrawn.

I don’t hold out much if any hope or see any signs that we will consistently challenge the Kiwis or Aussies within the next decade however.

I’ve no doubt the players you mentioned would have been a massive success had they gone to the NRL I just feel it’s likely their playing ability would have improved in most cases because they would have been tested week in week out. As we have seen the best English players can thrive in the NRL it’s the next tier down that tends to sink or swim.

The key for me is the week in week out standard of the NRL.

Obviously they have some teams that are not fantastic Wests and Bulldogs were poor last year but if I was a betting man I’d wager they would put 20-30 points on Cas and London.

One positive I do see moving forward is that in 2024 the gap between teams in SL is becoming less defined.

I think historically it’s almost been a case of mini leagues within the SL structure where you could comfortable pick your top 3 or 4 before the season started, then your mid table 6 and your bottom 2.

I do think the mid table 6 is tougher to call next year and it’s possible for teams like Leigh, Hull KR and possibly Huddersfield/Hull to transition into consistent top 4 challengers which is great for the comp and certainly assists in dragging the standards up.

Mitchell Pearce's comments on The Bye Round were interesting. He was praising the quality/intensity of the top teams in SL as NRL comparable (ish) but there was obviously a gap with the other teams.

I can still see him going at 26 when his contract ends but things can change in that time. If he becomes a Dad for instance he may not want to take a young child to the other side of the world away from immediate family.

What he has been steadfast in though and he alluded to it in his comments yesterday is that he sees SL as a very good comp and that we need to work to bring it towards the NRL level. Like it or not he is now probably the poster boy of the comp especially with him captaining England for those 2 games so it is a coup for the game in general.