NRL salary cap doesn't fit any more, says former auditor Ian Schubert
June 15, 2016 - 5:29PM
Adrian Proszenko
He has spent more time than any other man policing it and is now charged with fixing the mess Parramatta made by allegedly trying to circumvent it. But Ian Schubert believes the salary cap needs to make way for a "fantasy league" style points system to prevent clubs from cheating the system.
Schubert was one of the most influential figures in the game while the NRL's salary cap auditor for 18 years, a post he left in 2013. The former Kangaroos representative, who oversaw the penalties imposed on Melbourne for systematic cheating, is again involved in the salary cap as a consultant to Parramatta, where he is attempting to clean up the financial mess at the club.
Schubert began pressure testing a points system alongside the cap in 2010 while cap auditor, with a view to rewarding loyalty and providing a more transparent means of equalising talent across the competition. Six years later, the former Roosters, Sea Eagles and Magpies utility believes it could be a better system than the controversial salary cap.
"As a personal project really, I have considered a points system for years and have run models over the NRL clubs and the actual figures, just looking at how an alternative might measure up," Schubert told the latest issue of Men Of League magazine. "Effectively it would be almost a real Fantasy League with a lot of variables covering injury, talent differentiation between same-level rep players, encouragement for clubs to be development rather than recruitment clubs etc. In principle, I see the value in it being considered. Its greatest benefit is transparency."
Schubert declined to add to those comments when contacted by Fairfax Media.:thumn
A five-man sub-committee of club CEOs was formed in 2010 to consider the original proposal. Two of those members, Canberra chief executive Don Furner and former Brisbane boss Bruno Cullen, are both still of the belief the points system has merit and warrants further investigation.
"It's the only system you can have that realistically can't be cheated," Furner said.
The salary cap in its current form has been in place since the NSWRL introduced it in 1990. However, it was initially brought in with a view to running it alongside a draft and the Parramatta scandal following on from the Melbourne and Canterbury cheating dramas has again raised questions over whether it is the best system for the modern game.
Brisbane has long been viewed as one of the most stacked rosters in the game. But under Schubert's trial valuation system in 2010, the Gold Coast were the side valued the highest. The Broncos came in at 16th spot, at $3,003,619 under a then-cap of $4.1 million. This was primarily because of discounts built into his matrix for players who had remained at one club for a significant time.
A points system is already in place in the local Canberra and Illawarra rugby league competitions. While there have been a variety of soft and hard cap systems used in American sports, the NRL would break new ground worldwide if it followed Schubert's proposal.
Former Cronulla chairman Damian Irvine has previously advocated a simpler cap system. Under his index, each club couldn't exceed 100 points for its top 25 players. Those yet to play first grade are worth two points, those with 0-50 games are worth three, and those with more than 50 NRL games were worth four. Representative players were worth five or six depending on the level they reached.
The NRL has already flagged the prospect of putting a cap on the total of third-party arrangements for each club, with the matter to be a priority for incoming head of football Brian Canavan.
