Parramatta-bound Kieran Foran is the latest superstar to withdraw from New Zealand's upcoming tour of England. "He has a ligament in an elbow that has been giving him trouble since the start of the year," Foran's agent, Paul Sutton, told Set of Six. "He went to Parramatta for a look at it and they thought it was best that it was seen to." An official announcement is anticipated this week. The withdrawal of Foran surely means St George Illawarra's Benji Marshall will get a call-up but the fact Foran has been struggling with it for the whole season - and played on - raises serious questions about the primacy of international football. Other star withdrawals inclide Manu Vatuvei, Shaun Johnson, Jared Warea-Hargreaves and Thomas Leuluai.

Why Hodges case can't be treated differently

Captain precarious: Broncos skipper Justin Hodges (right) is in danger of missing the NRL grand final. Credit:Getty Images

For the kids at the back, once more, here is why grand finals can't be worth more disciplinary demerit points and Justin Hodges can't be let off with a fine. If you increase the threshold of discipline to play in one game, you change the rules of the previous game. In effect, every year you will be able to get away with more in the preliminary final because it will be harder to be suspended from the grand final. All thresholds in the NRL are tested. The preliminary finals will quickly become the dirtiest games of the year. The idea of grand finals being treated differently has been around for years but has never been instituted because it is impossible to legislate in a fair and equitable way. In general life, we respect the wisdom of our forefathers far more readily than in rugby league, where we seem to assume at every turn that they were idiots.