Richie Myler called for restrictions on signing overseas players to be loosened to raise the standard of the Betfred Super League.
Hull FC’s director of rugby is concerned the drain of talented English players to the Australian competition will only intensify if two new teams are added to the current 17, with a Papua New Guinea-based outfit confirmed for 2028 and a Perth-based side possibly joining soon too.
Morgan Knowles is the most recent England international to be confirmed as heading Down Under, rejoining his former St Helens head coach Kristian Woolf at the Dolphins from next year, and Myler believes allowing Super League clubs to sign more Southern Hemisphere players would be a way to counter that.
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“I think we have to open the quota position,” Myler told The Bench podcast.
“You’re going to end up losing some of our best talents and the NRL is the pinnacle of our game, so why would we not be able to bring more of their best talent into our game to improve it?
“If they get two new teams in the NRL, [Hull FC’s Australian head coach] John Cartwright has said it, if I was a head coach I’m coming straight here and picking every England player because they can compete at that level, they’re cheaper and they’ll go and do a job over there.
“I know for a fact players at other clubs have got release clauses in their contract that if an NRL club comes, they’re going.”
Super League clubs are restricted to a maximum of seven non-federation trained players in both their 21-man squads for games and their full playing register, as per section B1:17 of the RFL’s Tier 1-3 Operational Rules.
As per B1:16, the idea behind this regulation is to ensure clubs are encouraged to invest in their academies and bring more players into the game that way, and then to allow those players opportunities to develop as senior players.
Myler would keep the match restriction in place, but wants to see the limit on the number a club can carry in their squad increased or abolished all together due to his fears over the effect a shrinking player pool is having with English talent catching the eye of potential NRL suitors.
“I still agree we have seven [non-federation trainer players] who play, but I think we should open it up so the pool is bigger,” Myler said.
“My suggestion would be to have maybe ten quota players or maybe not a limit on them, but only a certain amount can play on game-day.
“The pool of players we can all pick from is small and it’s going to get smaller if we lose all of our talent to the NRL.”
