ESL players continue NRL exodus

England's Rangi Chase ... and Sam Tomkins Australia bound? Source: VAUGHN RIDLEY/SWPIX.COM / News Limited

England rugby league coach Steve McNamara could find himself spending as much time in Australia as England if the current trickle of Super League's elite players to the NRL turns into a flood.

Forwards Lee Mossop and Gareth Hock are the latest players to decide to try their luck in Australia and they will find themselves in familiar company in 2014.

Indeed, it is quite conceivable at least 11 members of McNamara's World Cup squad could all be plying their trade in the NRL from next March.

Jack Reed, Gareth Widdop, James Graham, Sam Burgess and Chris Heighington are already well established in the elite Australian competition, with Dewsbury-born George Burgess making a strong claim to join them after bursting on to the scene in spectacular fashion this year.

Now Mossop and Hock have opted to follow a trail blazed so successfully by Adrian Morley and Gareth Ellis in the last decade and they will not be the last.

Hull winger Tom Briscoe looks to be heading to Australia when his contract at the KC Stadium runs out in November while Castleford's former Man of Steel Rangi Chase is on the brink of re-joining St George Illawarra and Wigan full-back Sam Tomkins looks increasingly likely to join the exodus, possibly even in time for next season.

Former St Helens hooker Scott Moore, an England international in 2009, joined North Queensland at the start of the season while a glut of fringe Super League players have also made the move to the NRL, content to play either reserve-grade or work their way up through feeder clubs.

The player drain is a consequence of both an unfavourable exchange rate and a lucrative television deal that has enabled the NRL to significantly raise their salary cap.

Former St Helens, Wigan and Castleford coach Ian Millward has no doubt over the attraction of the game in his native Australia and says he cannot blame Chase for turning his back on Super League.

"Rangi is not a one-off," Millward said.

"This is going to happen to a lot of the good England players. The attraction of going there is going to be so great."

Refreshingly, Leeds this week issued a hands-off warning after star centre Kallum Watkins had been linked with a move to the NRL but the player drain needs to be put in context.

Although there is an obvious danger of the Super League competition being weakened by the loss of so many star players, at least they are staying in the game and, therefore, will remain eligible to represent their country, which of course would not be the case if they were to switch to rugby union.

And the spin-offs are obvious for McNamara, who has seen the remarkable progress made by George Burgess in comparison to twin brother Tom, who opted to stay behind for another 12 months to carry out his apprenticeship in Super League.

Jon Roberts, England Rugby Football League's director of performance and coaching, believes the potential exodus is evidence of the success of Super League's player development pathways.

"Of course there is going to be lots of interest from the NRL and inevitably some players will take the opportunities that come their way but that's just recognition of how effective we have become at producing elite athletes," Roberts said.

"There has always been a cross-pollination between the game in this country and rugby league in Australia and we have to accept that this will continue to be the case.

"We should also be flattered and recognise the positives that come from this. When you are successful, other parties want to be associated with that success and that's what we are seeing."

Wigan chairman Ian Lenagan remains unconcerned over the impending departure of Mossop or even the potential loss of Tomkins, arguing that they will return to Super League better for the experience.

"The NRL is a place that our players will go to," he said.

"We've planned for it. We estimate seven or eight players will go out from Wigan in the next five or six years.

"We take the view that if Wigan players can get two or maybe three years' experience in the NRL when they are 23, 24 or 25 rather than 29 or 30 they will come back better players.

"We estimate that perhaps one in three will want to stay on because they love the place but two out of three will come back and we believe 50 per cent of them will come back to Wigan." 

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