Hull KR boss Willie Peters is in favour of the new quota changes but feels as though the Robins have lost out with the timing of their introduction.
From next season Super League clubs will be allowed 10 overseas players within their squads, with the quota size being increased by as many as three in the hope of bolstering the strength and depth clubs have within their rosters.
Should clubs wish to utilise the overseas room at their disposal right away is completely up to them, but with no movement to the salary cap, others would be unable to recruit from Down Under even if they wanted to.
Hull KR are one of those clubs, with the Robins near enough at capacity for next year with just the seven players from Down Under.
Others though are likely to max themselves out, with Rovers’ cross city rivals Hull FC believed to have secured Liam Knight and Sam Lisone for next season to add to the incoming James Bell. And, with the Black and Whites now able to re-sign Ligi Sao as well, the club would already be full up of overseas players in that instance.
Hull had the cap space to move for such players, allowing them to make additions and build what could be one of the heaviest front-row line-ups in the competition.
Rovers don’t have that luxury, though, with the east Hull outfit doing there business earlier than most, meaning the new changes won’t have too much of an impact at Craven Park.
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Hull KR boss Peters on Super League quota changes
“It all depends on your situation,” Peters said when asked for his opinion. “I think with things like that you need to be given notice. We’re a pretty organised club, we do our recruitment early and we deliberately do it early so we’re organised.
“Then you get that put on you, we don’t have a lot left, well, we have none, so it doesn’t impact us. I’m certain other clubs will think it’s great.
“At the end of the day it has its pros and cons. Bringing in too many overseas players, does that then hinder the local English players?
“I’m a believer that if you’re going to bring it in then you need to give ample time to be able to organise yourselves. We’re being hindered, if we did want to bring others in, from being organised.
“It’s got its pros and cons and eventually it will be good, there’s no doubt about that. You’re going to get some players come over that aren’t getting an opportunity over there who can certainly play but don’t have the opportunity.
“There’s a number of players who have gone on to do that, players like Tom Amone, John Asiata and Bevan French, Jai Field, players like that who weren’t getting the game time they wanted, come over here and have excelled. You’ll get those as well.
“At the end of the day it’s the right decision to make but you just need time for those sort of things. When you’re doing a salary cap, you need to plan ahead other side it comes back to bite you. On this occasion for people that aren’t planned, it’s going to be a benefit but you need to plan when you’ve got a salary cap, you need to forward think and that’s what we’ve done.
“We’ve got ’26 basically sorted because that’s what we believed we need to do but other clubs will wait till later on. There’s no right or wrong, just preference. I think for the clubs that are organised they aren’t going to get any benefit whatsoever.”
On whether the changes could hinder the production of homegrown talent, Peters added: “Long-term most clubs want to bring through as many juniors as possible and we’re no different, we need to improve our pathways bring more of our juniors through.
“The benefit to that is if you’ve got the ability to go and get some more overseas players and you want to go to that market then that will help. For us because we’re not bringing a great deal through, it is a benefit if you’ve got cap. For me, if we feel like a junior is the same as someone else, you’re never going to bring someone else in, you’re going to go with the junior.”
Hull KR are excited to announce that the 1,000-capacity South Stand will return from Round 24 onwards! 🏟️
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