Langer was effectively thought retired when he joined Wire. The fact he played Origin was entirely down to Queensland having virtually no options and Bennett needing something to perk the whole team up. BTW Buderus was not schooled by Cameron Smith in Smith's early days, it was very much the other way round as Buderus played in a NSW side that generally dominated Origin. Again though, by the time he joined Leeds it was seen as retirement.
What we'll never see again is short-term signings of the absolute best Aussies like we had in the 80s - Kenny, Sterling, Meninga, Lewis etc. Even if we moved back to winter rugby no stars would do it. Its a shame, it certainly brightened up RL in England, and on the flip side some of our best players got really good experience in Australia.
