Salary Cap

[gUt]

I agree with what Gould (and others) have said about the salary cap. It has done a good job of eveing the comp, but has done nothing to improve it. 100+ players overseas and in other codes, purely because of the way the cap operates. The cap tempts clubs to cheat in order to stand out.

Let's be honest, the cap is in place to protect shite clubs like Cronulla who cannot survive in an open market. It's time to force these clubs out, let them die or make them relocate. Those worried about tradition or upsetting fans aren't thinking about the future of the game. And let's face it, if Cronulla etc had a decent fan base they wouldn't be in the financial position they're in.

Abolish the cap, and abolish the teams/clubs who can't afford to compete. I would rather watch 10 teams of the Storm's quality run around than 16-20 under 20's/reserve grade sides with a couple of stars thrown in.

 

[Meat77]

Re: Salry Cap

I completely and utterly disagree. I've said this a million times - yes it would seem great to have 4-5 stacked sides in the comp playing champagne footy every week but think about it. Do we really want to be like the English Premier League where any fool can tell you the top 4 teams for the next 10 years? What a boring competition it would be...

 

[gUt]

Re: Salry Cap

Let the comp as a whole stand and fall on its merits, not some artificially induced state of mediocrity that demands clubs cheat in order to succeed. If a team can't afford to pay for top line talent in its market, move somewhere else that wants a team.

 

[Coxy]

Re: Salry Cap

The competition IS boring. The standard is poor. People say it's not because the results are often close or there's huge doubt about who will actually win.

But the quality of football in the NRL has been declining for years.

A side effect of that is that State of Origin and Test football is also going backwards.

I don't think the salary cap should be scrapped. But, it should be lifted to a more realistic figure of at least $5 million. Should allow for a squad of up to 30 players, and players who made their NRL debut for the club should be 50% exempt from the salary cap for as long as they remain with that club.

If that rule alone was in place the Storm would not have needed to cheat, as Inglis, Slater, Cronk, Smith were all Storm debutants.

 

[ethos]

Re: Salry Cap

Abolishing the cap's not the answer, there wouldn't be ten financially viable teams left in the competition gut.

We need salary cap concessions for long serving players and concessions for developing your own junior talent and perhaps a marquee system where the salary of one or two players isn't counted towards the salary cap.

Oh, and bring back reserve grade.

 

[Meat77]

Re: Salry Cap

I agree with you to an extent Coxy. The salary cap is a good thing and has proven to be a good thing in other sports too around the world (NBA and NFL to name but two).

No way should be scrap it but there are plenty of ways to improve it

 

[gUt]

Re: Salry Cap

See now the bloke who accused the Titans of rorting is making more noise, calling for an independant audit of the club. It will snowball, mark my words. ALL of the clubs' dirty laundry will be aired and only a few, if any, will be shown to be legal. The common factor? The salary cap.

Raise or scrap the cap, reduce the number of teams, relocate those who can't survive where they are.

 

[Flutterby]

Re: Salry Cap

Agree with points and suggestions made by Coxy and Ethos re lifting the cap and having concessions.

Though that still doesn't address situations such as the Sharks - they simply cannot afford to compete, they aren't paying players anywhere near the cap as it stands now because they can't afford to. It is a different topic really, but getting rid of the 'deadwood' also needs to be done in order to improve the standard of the competition.

 

[gUt]

Re: Salry Cap

For those who missed it:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/23/2880826.htm?site=sport&section=rugbyleague

NRL's cap doesn't fit: Gould

Rugby league commentator and two-time premiership coach Phil Gould says the Melbourne Storm's salary cap breaches fall largely at the feet of a neglectful NRL administration and a restrictive salary cap.

The Storm was yesterday stripped of its two premierships in 2007 and 2009 and effectively disqualified from this year's competition after being found to have rorted the salary cap by $1.7 million over five years.

Speaking on Channel Nine's Footy Show, Gould said the fact the Storm got away with such massive rorts over an extended period was a "slap in the face" to NRL chief executive David Gallop and his administration.

"It marks this administration has had its day," he said.

"I know they have acted swiftly, but the horse has bolted.

"This is so damaging to the code. We have to disqualify a team and five years of achievement, and everyone in the game is going to feel cheated who has played against them because our administration didn't know or had no idea it was going on."

Gould said the fact the Storm recruited players like Clint Newton and Brett Finch midseason to help them to premierships, whilst keeping a host of representative players on its books, should have told the NRL that something was amiss.

The cap doesn't fit

Gould also said the current salary cap of $4.1 million and the NRL handout of $3.3 million to each club per year is not enough, and forces sides to cheat in the pursuit of success.

"It goes to show how much it costs to put quality teams on the football field," he said.

"Our salary cap has depleted our depth and depleted our playing ranks.

"We have 100 players in England, players retiring early, players going to other codes.

"If you want to look like a professional football club like the Melbourne Storm it costs a lot of money.

"If you can't spend that money you are an also-ran and you can't compete in this competition. The clubs need more money out of the game, simple as that."

The Storm will remain on zero points for the remaining 20 rounds of the season and will not be awarded points for any victories.

But Gould suggested such a move could dent the future of rugby league in Melbourne.

"As soon as the Storm can show they are under the salary cap, they should start playing for points again," he said.

"Take their eight points they have gained so far, take their titles, but let's us get them active again in this competition.

"Or else, no one is going to go, no one is going to watch them and they are going to get financially further and further behind with all these fines."

 

[QUEENSLANDER]

Re: Salry Cap

Gould is a smart smart man, love him or hate him. He is 100% right on this

 

[BroncoMatt]

Re: Salry Cap

Oh, and bring back reserve grade.

Wouldn't this put a further burden on clubs? [icon_shru

 

[gUt]

Re: Salry Cap

Rugby League

The National Rugby League adopted a salary cap model in 1990. In 2010, the salary cap for the sixteen teams is $4.6875 million, with a $4.21875 million salary floor. The NRL's stated purposes for having a salary cap are "to assist in spreading the playing talent" and "ensure that Clubs are not put into positions where they are forced to spend more money than they can afford in terms of player payments, just to be competitive." [8]

The NRL is one of the only major leagues to implement a salary cap when there are competing leagues in other countries where there is either no salary cap or a much higher cap per club. As a result, there is a constant drain of players from Australia to Europe where salaries for the elite (and even for average players) are considerably higher. The NRL has chosen to continue with the cap, believing that any reduction in quality of the sporting product due to the loss of these players is less than allowing richer clubs to dominate. In practice, the goal of parity has been quite successful, with 8 different clubs winning the championship in the 9 seasons between 2001 and 2009. Since the NRL's inception in 1998, only two clubs have won the premiership on more than one occasion.

In 2008 the departure of two elite stars to play French rugby union has prompted calls for the cap to be raised. Australian rugby league players had suffered a 27% decline in their wages since 1999, whereas other Australian sportsmen had experienced steady, and in some cases explosive growth. Some of the blame has been apportioned to the fact that the media company News Limited is a major owner of the NRL, and would normally be expected to be a bidder for rugby league rights in Australia. Being an owner of the game means News can apportion rights to itself at a discount, reducing the overall income the league can make for itself through media rights. This has a flow-on effect reducing available income for players.

Good comparison tables available at wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salary_cap#Rugby_League

 

[Coxy]

Re: Salry Cap

Oh, and bring back reserve grade.

Wouldn't this put a further burden on clubs? [icon_shru

Yep. Frankly I think they'd be better off making the Toyota Cup more a reserve grade premiership. Instead of all players being under 20, make it that the average age has to be under 22 or 23. That would allow some older, experienced players to be involved, but still allow juniors to have a place to test their mettle and play in a national comp.

Win win IMO.

 

[ethos]

Re: Salry Cap

Oh, and bring back reserve grade.

Wouldn't this put a further burden on clubs? [icon_shru

Yeah it was a bit of a throw away comment..

In an ideal world though, I'd have reserve grade and ditch the u20s. Of course, this would force clubs to take players out of the NSW and QLD Cups, and we'd see those competitions become younger in age with a smattering of older guys.

But I reckon reserve grade would lead to a higher standard of footy and create a better pathway towards the NRL. At the moment, the ladder players have to climb to make it to first grade is all out of whack.

 

[Anonymous person]

Re: Salry Cap

I agree with you to an extent Coxy. The salary cap is a good thing and has proven to be a good thing in other sports too around the world (NBA and NFL to name but two).

No way should be scrap it but there are plenty of ways to improve it

whats the salary cap on the NBA though, $50 million a season or something like that? mid level guys over there get paid more for one season than the very best NRL player will earn in his entire career.

if we had a salary cap of even $10 million there would be no problems, as players wouldnt leave teams they love for an extra $50k when theyre on like $800k as it is. but when youre only on $200k, an extra $50k is a LOT of money and youd be dumb not to take it.

 

[Meat77]

Re: Salry Cap

I agree with you to an extent Coxy. The salary cap is a good thing and has proven to be a good thing in other sports too around the world (NBA and NFL to name but two).

No way should be scrap it but there are plenty of ways to improve it

whats the salary cap on the NBA though, $50 million a season or something like that? mid level guys over there get paid more for one season than the very best NRL player will earn in his entire career.

if we had a salary cap of even $10 million there would be no problems, as players wouldnt leave teams they love for an extra $50k when theyre on like $800k as it is. but when youre only on $200k, an extra $50k is a LOT of money and youd be dumb not to take it.

Yeah I see your point but players in the US still leave teams for more money even though they are making millions. The thing I like about the NBA system though is that the current team can always offer more money to incumbent players by being able to offer an extra year in the contract that potential suitors cannot hence helping players stay with their existing teams.

 

[QUEENSLANDER]

Re: Salry Cap

The problem is no club will be able to get 10 mil a year to pay the players. The NRL has to take responsibility and get better deals for TV, merch, sponsorships etc. Get more money to the NRL, give more to the clubs, raise the cap and we will keep the players

 

[gUt]

Re: Salry Cap

The NRL's responsibilty currtently is to News Ltd, whose ownership of this asset we call the NRL is where the $$$ the clubs could desperately use is being siphoned off to.