Odem wrote:
Not so sure about this with the NRL cap going up.
I know we have a chance to take a closer look at their young players but they can do the same with us. What if Sam Tomkins had gone to NZ before 2009?
What if he'd have spent 2008 playing in the Toyota Cup and had come back to us even better than he is now? Not saying it would have happened, but there are going to be flipsides to every argument. We might be able to send some of our better 20s out there to play in their comp instead of being loaned to Championship clubs over here.
It may also be a case where we are able to take some of their players who are on the fringes of the 1st team. We know Wane and Lenegan seem to like "project" players and this is probably what we should be looking at more now as with the NRL SC increase it is going to be more difficult to attract established players, even if this means it is likely we will only get a couple of seasons out of them before they go back. I'm sure there would also be options for coaches to go over and learn some of their techniques. As long as we don't see a massive drain of our better players leaving for NZ then the positives outweigh the negatives IMO.
