I'm afraid whenever I see a great team performing now (like Brisbane or Cowboys) I just think they must be very good at arranging TPA's 'at arms length' (or cheating and not getting caught/dobbed in). Even Cronulla (my second favourite team right now) I think geez they've got a pretty good line-up, I wonder how they arranged all those TPA's 'at arms length'.
This whole TPA bullshit has ruined the game for me. I've followed rugby league since 1964 (not just Parramatta, although they have been my team since then). I've got a lot of great memories to fall back on. But the game isn't the same anymore. The winners are now the clubs who have a great network of monied people in the community who are prepared to top up the salaries of players in a way that is seen to be 'at arms length'. And cheating this system is undetectable unless you're stupid or you get dobbed in. Is this supposed to be some sort of joke or something?
The talk has been that the Roosters are something like $800,000 under the cap, so they could afford Jarryd Hayne. Right, okay, so they'd need to get him another bunch of money from a third party. So they go 'wink wink, nudge nudge, if your manager goes and talks to so and so, they might be able to help you'. Is that arms length? What is arms length?
I'm watching the Schute Shield lately - happy in watching sport for its own sake. And it takes me back to my days of playing Rugby Union for Macquarie Boys' High. For the moment, I don't give a f**k about the NRL. I like the game of rugby league, but at NRL level it's just a pale shadow of what it used to be.
