NRL is second rate, say players

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NRL is second rate, say players
Topic Started: May 4 2010, 03:54 AM (78 Views)
stacey	May 4 2010, 03:54 AM Post #1
Administrator Posts: 5,739 Group: Admins Member #1 Joined: May 22, 2009	Stuart Honeysett From: The Australian THE players' union has warned the NRL it runs the risk of becoming "the code you play until you get a better offer from someone else" after it was told the salary cap was unlikely to rise next season. All 16 club chief executives met in Sydney yesterday and the salary cap was high on the agenda following the explosive revelations that Melbourne had been cheating the system since 2006. The NRL has commissioned a five-man panel to complete a comprehensive review of the cap and all clubs have until May 21 to present any submissions on how to improve the system. However, it is understood unless the NRL partnership committee moves to increase its annual grant to clubs at a meeting tomorrow week, then an increase to the cap in 2011 is unlikely. Rugby League Players Association chief executive, David Garnsey, said he was disappointed at the outcome of yesterday's meeting given the hype that had surrounded it. Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. "If they're keen to send a clear message that there's no money in the game to pay more to players than they're virtually conceding it's a second rate league," Garnsey said. "That's what concerns me, that rugby league will become a game that you play until you get a better offer from someone else. "We can't just mark time. Money has to be found because everyone knows we're losing players and the senior players are saying something has got to happen here. "All we get today is, `We're happy with the system and we don't envisage an increase'. They seem very keen to get a message out today not to expect anything and that's totally disappointing." Garnsey is in the process of meeting players from all clubs to push for an increase in the cap when the collective bargaining agreement expires in October. The current cap is $4.1 million. A cap increase could be crucial to the game retaining some big names. Brisbane's Israel Folau and North Queensland's Johnathan Thurston are contemplating their future. Folau has already been linked with a a lucrative move to Super 15 franchise Melbourne Rebels, although AFL franchise Greater Western Sydney is also interested in the Broncos centre. Storm Test hooker Cameron Smith, whose third-party deal with pay-television network Fox Sports was part of the Storm's cap problems, said more flexibility was needed for players to earn money. "Guys have had opportunities, particularly the high-profile blokes, to earn money outside the salary cap and for some reason a lot of times the NRL knocked it back. And that's why we're finding it hard to keep our elite players year after year," Smith said yesterday. "They're looking at moving overseas or moving to a different code where the restrictions aren't that tight and where their base salary is higher to start with. "I'm not too sure how we go about it, but I think the NRL needs to look at ways to do that because again this year we have a guy like Israel Folau who may be a chance of leaving. If he was to leave it would be a massive blow for us." Brisbane chief executive Bruno Cullen, who is part of the five-man committee, bristled at suggestions the game was idle on the issue. He pointed to the fact, issued in a statement by the NRL, that players enjoy a higher percentage of the game's revenue (24 per cent) compared to rival codes (19 per cent in the AFL). "What everyone has got to understand is we can tinker and streamline and modernise the salary cap but the most important thing is it's got to be affordable," Cullen said. "Right now the players in our game receive a higher percentage of game income than any other football code and they should appreciate that." www.theaustralian.com.au
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