Warrington now in hunt for marquee player

Correspondent

Warrington coach Tony Smith has confirmed that his team will now be looking to recruit a ‘marquee player’, following the rule change approved by the Super League clubs this week.

From next season, clubs will be able to have one star player who does not count towards the salary cap, in an attempt to help Super League retain talent, and recruit from both codes of rugby.

“We’ll be on the look-out,” Smith confirmed.

“Now that there’s been a change in the ruling, you can start to scour around to see and identify what’s available.

“Until the rule was changed there was little point in doing that.

“I think it’s progress. We probably haven’t grown our salary cap enough for a long time.

“The amount of players that are getting recruited to the NRL and rugby union from our sport has probably hurt us in the last few years.

“That continues to be a drain. We’ve got to be able to compete in helping to retain our own players, and maybe going out and attracting players from elsewhere.

“It isn’t just about going out and recruiting a player from overseas.

“It’s about retaining our own and maybe recruiting from other sports as well, so it gives us a chance to compete.”