Former Roosters chief executive Bernie Gurr has called for the NRL to publish all player salaries and pay them out of head office to ensure the salary cap isn't being rorted.
The game's integrity has again been questioned after Fairfax Media revealed Eddie Obeid jnr, the son of disgraced former Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid, allegedly organised salary tops ups to Parramatta players that weren't properly disclosed to the NRL. It has also come to light that a string of high-profile Cowboys players - including star Johnathan Thurston, co-captain Matt Scott and State of Origin player James Tamou - have acquired properties from long-serving North Queensland chairman and property developer Laurence Lancini.
There is already widespread cynicism among clubs and supporters about player payments, particularly the third-party variety. Under the rules, TPAs are not allowed to be negotiated by clubs as an incentive to sign, but there is a shadowy world where players often receive payments off the books.
The governing body provides clubs with an annual grant, which has historically been a figure in close proximity to the salary cap and is ostensibly used by franchises to pay players. Gurr, a senior executive in the US after overseeing the Roosters for nine seasons from 1995 to 2003, believes the cap would be easier to police if all player payments - including the third-party variety - came directly from Rugby League Central.
"The NRL should be a clearing house for all contracts and third-party agreements," Gurr said. "So if a club negotiates a contract and a manager negotiates a TPA, both of those are lodged with the league. The player and manager would sign a stat dec saying the only money the player got was the money that was with the contract and TPA lodged with the NRL.
"That's bringing added accountability to the player because they then have to say 'all the money I've got has come via the NRL'. Then if there is anything shady outside of that they will be loath to be a part of that because they've signed a stat dec saying the only money they got was via the NRL. That will really pull the players into the loop because they always throw up their hands and say 'I didn't know what was going on'."
Many of the professional American sports publicly declare the salaries of the players and Gurr believes there are advantages in rugby league following suit. Ironically, Fairfax Media revealed Parramatta is still paying Jarryd Hayne about $50,000 this year when all of his earnings at the San Francisco 49ers are on the public record.
"If you view the salary cap as an important mechanism in the game, then you want transparency and integrity," Gurr said. "It would build trust with fans, which is important because there is a lot of fan cynicism around the salary cap. You will always come up against 'well, you don't disclose your salary' but most people who work in public companies do disclose senior manager and board salaries. Sport is now a very public product, you're effectively not unlike a public company."
Gurr, who was a senior executive for the 1994 soccer World Cup, said salary disclosure also had other benefits.
"It will actually build fan interest by adding a lot of theatre to the game," he said.
"Fans of each club will be debating amongst themselves, they'll be evaluating management decisions, working out why one player is worth more than another.
"For the players themselves, they can evaluate their managers. If you're a right centre, 25 years of age with X number of games under your belt - and then there's another guy at another club in the same scenario making $200,000 more - then you might have a question for your managers."
