east hull FC fan wrote:
For loves sake, I give up with this quota lark.
Here's what I've got regarding the quota/non-fed rules...
You are allowed FIVE overseas-trained players in your team.
However, due to the old "quota" system being around when some overseas players came over here to work (pre-2008), there has to be a transitional period that allows these players to carry on working under the system that was here when they came over (they've uprooted thousands of miles to work here after all).
This means that anyone who signed a contract to play for a club in SL pre-2008 is exempt from the FIVE overseas-trained list.
BUT, there is STILL a limit on the number of "quota" players (different list) you can have, which is also FIVE. The players that are exempt from this list are (like before) anyone with an EU passport or a Pacific/African/Caribbean passport (basically anyone that has a legal right to work in this country).
The two lists work alongside each other, so you can be on one list, the other list, or both lists. Any quota player signed AFTER 2008 will be on both. Any quota player signed BEFORE 2008 will be only on the quota, and any EU/Kolpak player will be only on the non-fed list.
After this transitional period is over (when all the quota players signed before 2008 have retired), probably about 6-7 years, I think the word "quota" will no longer be used as there will no longer be a need to use it. All quota players will also be non-fed players (there will be no exemptions to the non-fed, so you can't be on the quota and not on the non-fed list).
So the lists look like this:
Quota (those that were classed as an overseas player before 2008):Joel Clinton
Michael Dobson
Ben Galea
Blake Green
Jake Webster
Non-Federation Trained (those that were classed as to be trained outside of the RFL [or is it RLEF?] and signed AFTER 2008)Joel Clinton
Michael Dobson
Blake Green
Willie Mason
Those that are exempt from the quota (due to having an EU passport or because of the Kolpak ruling):Ben Fisher - UK passport
Rhys Lovegrove - UK passport
Willie Mason - Tongan passport
Clint Newton - UK passport?
Michael Vella - Maltese passport
Those that are exempt from non-federation status (due to having signed for a club in this federation before the 2008 ruling came in):Ben Fisher - signed for Halifax in 2004
Ben Galea - signed for Hull KR in 2007 (played first game in 2008)
Rhys Lovegrove - signed for Hull KR in 2007
Clint Newton - signed for Hull KR in 2007 (played first game in 2008)
Michael Vella - signed for Hull KR in 2006 (played first game in 2007)
Jake Webster - signed for Hull KR in 2007 (played first game in 2008)
So really, Hull KR could technically sign ANOTHER non-fed player with an EU passport or on the Kolpak ruling! And if they get Ben Galea a Maltese passport, that would make him exempt from the quota AND non-fed status, which means they could sign another fully-fledged Aussie. Or even worse, they could sign a player exempt from the quota but not exempt from non-fed AND a player exempt from non-fed, but not the quota (say convince getting Scott Donald to come out of retirement)! In fact, they just sign a full team full of foreigners that signed for SL clubs before 2008 with Kolpak rulings or EU passports and have a full team of imports!
So Willie Mason doesn't have any sort of special exemptions to the overseas list like some people think, he just can't be classed as a quota player because of his Tongan heritage.
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