<span>I found this story at the Fox Sports AUS site. For those who have yet to read it.
Denis Fitzgerald's very last sentence is interesting
Push to lift salary cap
</span><span>By Peter Frilingos</span>
<span>May 8, 2003
</span>
SYDNEY Roosters chairman Nick Politis is leading a push to have the salary cap raised for next season in a move that could alter the balance of power in the code.
<table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=170 align=right border=0> <tbody> <tr> <td align=middle>
What's wrong with Justin Hodges earning $500k?
</td></tr> <tr> <td bgcolor=#ffffff height=10></td></tr></tbody></table>Politis, a political heavyweight in rugby league, has found significant support from a number of clubs, including the Bulldogs who were caught cheating the cap last year. The first official move will be made next week at a meeting of chief executives. The revelation comes as the Roosters and Bulldogs prepare for the most anticipated game of the season so far at Telstra Stadium tomorrow night. "There hasn't been a rise for five years," said Politis, a member of the game's partnership committee. "It's getting harder and harder to fit 25 players into the $3.25 million cap. If you are going to have a successful team you need at least four or five rep players, and you are not going to get a player of that calibre to play for $180,000 to $200,000. "And even if that happened, we don't want to be seen as the poor cousin to Aussie Rules and rugby. What's wrong with a Brad Fittler or an Andrew Johns earning $400,000 to $500,000 from the game?" Politis and other club bosses believe they cannot continue to retain successful players on a $3.25 million cap in the face of raids from other clubs and rugby union. At next week's chief executives forum, the Roosters and Bulldogs will lead a push to have the cap increased in line with the consumer price index. St George Illawarra and the Broncos will back the move with Parramatta the only cashed-up club opposed to cap increases. NRL chief executive David Gallop is expecting the push to start in earnest next week. "The clubs have embraced the cap from day one and their views on any changes are critical," Gallop said. "Conveniently there will be an opportunity to address this issue next week. "We have to be conscious of the huge investment being made by our rival codes in development." The motives of the Roosters, arguably the richest club, and the Bulldogs, who rorted the cap last year, will no doubt be questioned as the push for increases of anything up to $500,000 a season gain momentum. If the cap was increased it would have a huge impact on the clubs with the smaller financial base, such as Wests Tigers, Canberra, South Sydney, Manly and Cronulla. Politis argues: "You have to pay market value for rep players and if you don't they go elsewhere. "But once you pay them you're asking your bottom six or seven players to play for virtually nothing and that's wrong. "So a cost of living adjustment is not an unreasonable or reckless proposal. "Everything else is governed by CPI; why not the salary cap? "Two or three per cent would equate to between $300,000 and $500,000." Politis said it was possible a club could decided the cap was an unreasonable restraint of trade and mount a legal challenge. Bulldogs chairman George Peponis confirmed his club would support a lift in the cap. "I wholeheartedly support what Nick Politis is saying," Peponis said. "It hasn't changed in five years and in that time the cost of living has gone up considerably. "You get caught in a Catch 22 situation because in those five years you develop young players into first graders then can't keep them because of cap limits." St George Illawarra's Peter Doust said player equalisation throughout the league had worked because of the cap restrictions. "But it shouldn't work against clubs who have developed players in order to achieve success," Doust said. "I think the index argument is lucid and deserves support." Broncos chief Bruno Cullen said Brisbane would support a small cap increase even though the clubs could not afford it. "We will support an increase to $3.5 million and, while not many can afford it, we need the increase so we can give players, especially the long-serving ones at least, a CPI increase," Cullen said. Parramatta's Denis Fitzgerald said he was a long-term opponent of cap increases. "It wouldn't surprise me if Canterbury and the Roosters were pushing for increases solely looking at their particular situations rather than the good of the game," Fitzgerald said.
Denis Fitzgerald's very last sentence is interesting
Push to lift salary cap
</span><span>By Peter Frilingos</span>
<span>May 8, 2003
</span>
SYDNEY Roosters chairman Nick Politis is leading a push to have the salary cap raised for next season in a move that could alter the balance of power in the code.
<table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=170 align=right border=0> <tbody> <tr> <td align=middle>
</td></tr> <tr> <td bgcolor=#ffffff height=10></td></tr></tbody></table>Politis, a political heavyweight in rugby league, has found significant support from a number of clubs, including the Bulldogs who were caught cheating the cap last year. The first official move will be made next week at a meeting of chief executives. The revelation comes as the Roosters and Bulldogs prepare for the most anticipated game of the season so far at Telstra Stadium tomorrow night. "There hasn't been a rise for five years," said Politis, a member of the game's partnership committee. "It's getting harder and harder to fit 25 players into the $3.25 million cap. If you are going to have a successful team you need at least four or five rep players, and you are not going to get a player of that calibre to play for $180,000 to $200,000. "And even if that happened, we don't want to be seen as the poor cousin to Aussie Rules and rugby. What's wrong with a Brad Fittler or an Andrew Johns earning $400,000 to $500,000 from the game?" Politis and other club bosses believe they cannot continue to retain successful players on a $3.25 million cap in the face of raids from other clubs and rugby union. At next week's chief executives forum, the Roosters and Bulldogs will lead a push to have the cap increased in line with the consumer price index. St George Illawarra and the Broncos will back the move with Parramatta the only cashed-up club opposed to cap increases. NRL chief executive David Gallop is expecting the push to start in earnest next week. "The clubs have embraced the cap from day one and their views on any changes are critical," Gallop said. "Conveniently there will be an opportunity to address this issue next week. "We have to be conscious of the huge investment being made by our rival codes in development." The motives of the Roosters, arguably the richest club, and the Bulldogs, who rorted the cap last year, will no doubt be questioned as the push for increases of anything up to $500,000 a season gain momentum. If the cap was increased it would have a huge impact on the clubs with the smaller financial base, such as Wests Tigers, Canberra, South Sydney, Manly and Cronulla. Politis argues: "You have to pay market value for rep players and if you don't they go elsewhere. "But once you pay them you're asking your bottom six or seven players to play for virtually nothing and that's wrong. "So a cost of living adjustment is not an unreasonable or reckless proposal. "Everything else is governed by CPI; why not the salary cap? "Two or three per cent would equate to between $300,000 and $500,000." Politis said it was possible a club could decided the cap was an unreasonable restraint of trade and mount a legal challenge. Bulldogs chairman George Peponis confirmed his club would support a lift in the cap. "I wholeheartedly support what Nick Politis is saying," Peponis said. "It hasn't changed in five years and in that time the cost of living has gone up considerably. "You get caught in a Catch 22 situation because in those five years you develop young players into first graders then can't keep them because of cap limits." St George Illawarra's Peter Doust said player equalisation throughout the league had worked because of the cap restrictions. "But it shouldn't work against clubs who have developed players in order to achieve success," Doust said. "I think the index argument is lucid and deserves support." Broncos chief Bruno Cullen said Brisbane would support a small cap increase even though the clubs could not afford it. "We will support an increase to $3.5 million and, while not many can afford it, we need the increase so we can give players, especially the long-serving ones at least, a CPI increase," Cullen said. Parramatta's Denis Fitzgerald said he was a long-term opponent of cap increases. "It wouldn't surprise me if Canterbury and the Roosters were pushing for increases solely looking at their particular situations rather than the good of the game," Fitzgerald said.
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