Jamie Ellis

[HuddsTigers]

Why has Sweeting left? Wasn’t he good enough?

You can’t expect lads of his age to survive on the pittance that Cas are offering them I’m afraid.

Could probably get as much playing in L1/lower Championship and working in another job than staying at Cas and playing reserve grade.

I'd be completely open to a minimum salary being introduced across rugby league. There's absolutely no way a young RL player being offered professional terms should be offered 10/11k a year. Should be something like minimum £20k with £25k as as soon as they're only eligible for open age.

[braytontiger]

Why has Sweeting left? Wasn’t he good enough?

You can’t expect lads of his age to survive on the pittance that Cas are offering them I’m afraid.

Could probably get as much playing in L1/lower Championship and working in another job than staying at Cas and playing reserve grade.

I'd be completely open to a minimum salary being introduced across rugby league. There's absolutely no way a young RL player being offered professional terms should be offered 10/11k a year. Should be something like minimum £20k with £25k as as soon as they're only eligible for open age.

I think you would be shocked if you knew what they are been offered certainly nothing close to 10/11k try half of that and you would close very close. The club gets around this by signing the players on part time contracts but then asks them in for first team training “voluntary unpaid” which then hampers there ability to find part time work elsewhere.

Lads at 16/17 will tow the line and do it as they are straight out of school and £80 a week is far better than pocket money but when your expecting lads at 19/20 to do it it’s very naughty in my opinion.

[tigerfeat]

are cas the only club up to this or are other clubs doing the same?

[braytontiger]

are cas the only club up to this or are other clubs doing the same?

Not all but a vast majority

[fords]

are cas the only club up to this or are other clubs doing the same?

Not all but a vast majority

That's p*as poor. No wonder rugby league is dieing on its arse.

[SREGITSAC]

Why has Sweeting left? Wasn’t he good enough? Always looked far too light weight to me and not sure If he had the bottle for full time superleague and bigger men. It’s always sad when a young cas lad leaves but if he wasn’t going to cut it it’s time to find a young lad like Trueman or McClelland.

The talent is out there. I really would be so proud of a team made up of local boys playing for the badge. Will it ever happen again

We did have Calum McClelland, but chose to release him last year.
An outstanding player in the U19s, captained England.
He will be an asset for the Rhino's.
Questions need to be asked as to the apparant lack of resources going into supporting the U19s.
It is sad to see how they are struggling this season. Not particularly impressed with the lack of publicity/promotion they receive.
A strong academy is the clubs future. Cas are lucky we are surrounded by schools and amateur clubs playing rugby league. You would have thought the club should be able to retain the best players and not see them leave to join fellow rivals

We didn’t choose to release him, he moved to Scotland to play RU.

[HuddsTigers]

McLelland got a better offer didn't he and we sold him to Scotland RU for a fee as a result of turning down our extended contract offer.

Regarding local schools/amateur clubs, the simple fact is that other clubs come and throw more money at the players to get them to sign there. It's hard to retain or keep the best when other clubs have more resources. Also have better scouting networks to sign the best across all regions.

There's a division about the benefits of an academy in sporting terms nowadays. There's a lot of clubs in different sports who think it is better to invest money into first team players than academies because so few players end up making the grade that the RoI is poor. This is why clubs like Wigan can stockpile 30-40 juniors and then pick and choose the best, while the others end up signing terms elsewhere. Back 40/50 years ago when it was expensive to travel and hard to live in a different country, there was a need for clubs to recruit and sign players locally. Not so much now - horizons are smaller.

It's a high risk, high reward strategy if it works. But for every 60 players that go through the doors, I'd be surprised if more than 5 go on to make the grade at the club they originally signed for. A lot may get squad numbers but then end up being binned off at the end of their contracts too.

[tigerfeat]

Don't know the ins and outs of it but the end result was we lost McClelland who will turn out to be a rate player and we brought in Ellis who is garbage and how any other super league club is looking at signing him (if they are ) amazes me

[TheSheriff]

We did have Calum McClelland, but chose to release him last year.

Didn't they take a transfer fee from Scottish union? There was no releasing involved.

Don't know why they tried resigning him though, he's looked poor every time I've seen him play since going back to league.

[derbystiger]

Why has Sweeting left? Wasn’t he good enough?

You can’t expect lads of his age to survive on the pittance that Cas are offering them I’m afraid.

Could probably get as much playing in L1/lower Championship and working in another job than staying at Cas and playing reserve grade.

I'd be completely open to a minimum salary being introduced across rugby league. There's absolutely no way a young RL player being offered professional terms should be offered 10/11k a year. Should be something like minimum £20k with £25k as as soon as they're only eligible for open age.

As Braytontiger has already said, you’d be pretty close halving that figure I reckon. I believe Jake was offered around 5 grand. The minimum that you mention of 20 grand increasing to 25 is exactly the figure I was discussing with someone the other day. It’s not exactly mega money but would keep a lot of decent lads in the game I reckon. Is there enough money in the game to do it? I don’t know, but it’s definitely something that the game should be working towards.

[RonnieGibbs'forearm]

so if he goes & we are left with truman & richardson, whos the back up half?

Mata'utia with cover 6 I would imagine with whoever we've got coming through being 4th choice is Sweeting at the club next year I don't know tbh

Matautia should be nowhere near stand off ever again

[braytontiger]

Ultimately playing rugby is a job and you have to do what’s right by yourself.
I’ve been a massive advocate of bringing reserve rugby back but I was always fearful that the investment wouldn’t be their and I’ve seen and heard first hand from a number of clubs that it’s had a complete reverse effect on what it was designed to do.
Players were left with a choice of take it or leave it offers, quit or find championship clubs that were willing to allow you part time rugby and employment.
Sad but that’s the way the game is going.

[classycas57]

so if he goes & we are left with truman & richardson, whos the back up half?

Mata'utia with cover 6 I would imagine with whoever we've got coming through being 4th choice is Sweeting at the club next year I don't know tbh

Matautia should be nowhere near stand off ever again

No he jolly well shouldn't. Only cas try things like that

[nottinghamtiger]

Should be something like minimum £20k with £25k as as soon as they're only eligible for open age.

Given that the starting salary for many professional jobs that require a degree is 20-25k, there’s not much hope that companies are going to pay that kind of money for kids with no qualifications and no experience. The job of being an inexperienced and unproven RL player just doesn’t demand that kind of salary.

[Let’s talk sense]

I had to come in at this point. Message to Nottingham Tiger. Do me a favour please! Don’t compare the job of an aspiring rugby player with that of a four year obtaining pen pusher. These guys are getting smashed about. Maybe not 20-25k as a starting point but definitely 15-18.

[derbystiger]

I had to come in at this point. Message to Nottingham Tiger. Do me a favour please! Don’t compare the job of an aspiring rugby player with that of a four year obtaining pen pusher. These guys are getting smashed about. Maybe not 20-25k as a starting point but definitely 15-18.

Exactly! You can’t compare. These lads are putting their bodies on the line in a tough, professional sport. I think 20k starting for a 19/20 year old is fair to be honest.

[nottinghamtiger]

I had to come in at this point. Message to Nottingham Tiger. Do me a favour please! Don’t compare the job of an aspiring rugby player with that of a four year obtaining pen pusher. These guys are getting smashed about. Maybe not 20-25k as a starting point but definitely 15-18.

Damn those pesky pen-pushers who educate our children, run our hospitals, seek cures for illnesses, prosecute criminals and protect the vulnerable in society.
I’m afraid anyone can do “getting smashed about” and it’s pretty low-level in terms of an employment skill.

[Let’s talk sense]

I had to come in at this point. Message to Nottingham Tiger. Do me a favour please! Don’t compare the job of an aspiring rugby player with that of a four year obtaining pen pusher. These guys are getting smashed about. Maybe not 20-25k as a starting point but definitely 15-18.

Damn those pesky pen-pushers who educate our children, run our hospitals, seek cures for illnesses, prosecute criminals and protect the vulnerable in society.
I’m afraid anyone can do “getting smashed about” and it’s pretty low-level in terms of an employment skill.

And everyone who possesses a degree falls into all those categories! Oh deary me. I give in.

[nottinghamtiger]

I had to come in at this point. Message to Nottingham Tiger. Do me a favour please! Don’t compare the job of an aspiring rugby player with that of a four year obtaining pen pusher. These guys are getting smashed about. Maybe not 20-25k as a starting point but definitely 15-18.

Damn those pesky pen-pushers who educate our children, run our hospitals, seek cures for illnesses, prosecute criminals and protect the vulnerable in society.
I’m afraid anyone can do “getting smashed about” and it’s pretty low-level in terms of an employment skill.

And everyone who possesses a degree falls into all those categories! Oh deary me. I give in.

Well obviously not, but likewise it’s worth remembering that everyone who does those jobs do tend to have degrees. To label the likes of teachers, nurses, medical researchers, social workers etc as “pen pushers” is rather narrow-minded.
The thing is, the rationale for paying a 20k+ salary to someone simply because they get “smashed about” just doesn’t seem equitable.

[sparky49]

I thought this was supposed to e a thread about Jamie Ellis, yet we have 2 pages on the subject of juniors playing rugby league and how much they are worth. Another thread derailed, what a surprise.