Is there some sort of algorithm that calculates what a player "deserves", so we can check this argument properly?



Or is it simply "as much money as we can get our hands on, and never mind any consequences"?

and thats the reason Lee Smith will be playing RU next year,

But somebody else will

So your argument is based on one player out of a squad of ... how many, exactly?

Leeds are paying them exactly what they deserve. If they think they deserve more they can go elsewhere. To a poorly run club that will pay them more than they deserve. A club that will fail to compete because of this.

yes, there is, its called Seeking Your Value on The Open Market.



A player is paid what his employer thinks he deserves, if the player disagrees they go elsewhere and find someone who will pay them an amount which is acceptable to the player.



Except if your a Rugby League player, where strangely Gary Hetherington cant pay Lee Smith what he thinks he is worth as he is limited in what he can spend because his competitors dont have a lot of money

Which they're quite entitled to do.



It seems they'd rather be paid less to play in a tight knit squad of winners, though, so all this blather about the importance of a few extra quid is ringing little hollow.

25, but it isnt based on one player is it, its based on the hundreds playing RU, football and other sports that dont play RL



we dont only count the ones we lose, but the ones we never attracted as well,





as a game, we simply dont have the quality to allow players like Lee Smith to be leaving

except they cant, because we dont have an open market

I guess the key question here is, where does the sport of Rugby League get this money that the players 'deserve'?



I absolutely believe that Rugby League players are the most dedicated athletes on the planet and I wonder what Peacock and Sinfield feel when seeing Premier league players on £200k a week



The problem is the sport cannot afford to pay the players more than the sport earns - we have to live within our means the same way as any organisation that wants to remain solvent does



The Cap may not be paying the players what they deserve but it is keeping the sport alive

You specified one player - Lee Smith.







"we" do no such thing - because "we" know you can't "count" something as utterly indefinite as that.







Smith could have played for another club. He didn't, he went to RU.



Smith wanted to play RU more than he wanted to play RL, simple as that.

I'm not aware of a true open market in [iany[/i sphere of business.