England's Sam Burgess, centre, is tackled by France's Sebastien Raguin, right, during their Four Nations rugby league match at the Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster, England, Friday Oct. 23, 2009. AP Photo/Jon Super

There are two things to talk about amongst English rugby league fans: one is the depressing state of the English economy and the second is the arrival in the NRL of Sam Burgess.

As I sat on a ridiculously expensive, yet on-time train (and compared to NSW, it actually existed), I pondered how closely the two were related.

You don’t need to be in the UK for long at the moment to realise your Aussie dollar travels further than it did 18 months ago. And those Aussies looking to send the coin of the realm back home have added “bash a banker” to their holiday wish lists.

So will the increase in the press of articles about the dollar dazzler lead to a decrease in the articles claiming the NRL was suffering yet another ‘body blow’ as a player headed off to the UK?

It seems likely.

Speaking to a senior figure at the RFL during the week, he told me that they simply weren’t seeing any deals for NRL players coming through the door.

“They can’t get anyone at the moment,” was the short answer.

The poor exchange rate, coupled with new tax rules in both the UK and Australia, is making it hard work to tempt NRL players across.

Of course, deals which were signed months (or years) ago, like Greg Eastwood, Craig Fitzgibbon, Mark O’Meley and Glenn Hall, are still going ahead. But over the past few months, it’s been slim pickings.

In fact, there has been a fair bit of traffic the other way.

Apart from Burgess, Wigan’s Mark Flanagan is joining the Tigers, along with the returning Daniel Fitzhenry and Liam Fulton.

Flanagan, who had plans to travel to Australia to be with his girlfriend, and was originally planning on playing in the Queensland Cup if he could, and is now preparing to join Gareth Ellis in the NRL.

Someone’s manager deserves a Christmas card.

It’s good news for the NRL in that we might get a little peace from those quarters who claim the sky is falling in every time some bloke decides he wants to try his luck in the UK.

And in my humble opinion (which is what I’m here for), it should be good for the English national side as there do seem to be some good youngsters being held back by what must be described as some fairly average Aussies.

So has the GFC, which was meant to harm the NRL, actually helped it out?

Time will tell.

And what of Burgess? Well, he has got all the wraps and it should add an extra element to the match in Wigan.

It could also help some of the English clubs shift some of their excess Rabbitohs’ stock in the merchandise stands.

I’m constantly staggered by the presence of Rabbitohs kit in nearly every Super League club shop I visit.

Walking down a street in Wakefield and seeing the famous red and green coming in the other direction makes you think they laced the cod with something more than a triple serve of batter.