Parramatta Eels are still being forced to pay retired forward Anthony Watmough
THE NRL is clamping down on clubs that sign senior players near the end of their careers on long-term contracts amid startling news Parramatta are still being forced to pay retired forward Anthony Watmough.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that Parramatta are paying Watmough his full $700,000-a-year salary, three months after he retired, as the club continues high-stakes talks with insurers of his contract about liability for his career-ending injury.
The NRL said it would be putting its clubs under the microscope so they could avoid similar situations in the future.
Parramatta Eels are still being forced to pay retired forward Anthony Watmough. Pic Jenny Evans
“NRL salary cap auditors will be closely scrutinising long-term contracts for older players towards the end of their careers to minimise the risk of career-ending injuries resulting in big payouts,” a spokesman said.
But in one piece of good news for Parramatta, the NRL spokesman said that, regardless of the final outcome of the Eels’ negotiations with the insurers, the club’s salary cap for 2016-18 would not be affected.
“The NRL has already ruled Anthony Watmough had a career-ending injury and, as such, none of the payments due to him from the time he was injured would be included in the club’s salary cap for this year, next year and beyond,” the spokesman said.
Until any settlement is reached between the Eels and the insurers, Watmough’s salary is effectively being footed by the Parramatta Leagues Club, which is predicted to lose more than $10 million this year.
Watmough was signed to a four-year deal until the end of 2018 worth around $2.8 million. However, his stint with the club was injury-cursed.
Anthony Watmough is still being paid by the Eels. Picture: Gregg Porteous
After the NRL in May confirmed The Daily Telegraph’s revelations over several months that the Parramatta board had conspired to skirt the code’s salary cap — and that the club was now $570,000 over the cap for 2016 alone — the Eels were forced into urgent action.
They shed several players to get under the cap, including Watmough and high-profile Eels hooker Nathan Peats, to avoid losing more competition points. The Eels also requested that Watmough be “medically retired” with a career-ending injury. The NRL’s chief medical officer, Dr Paul Bloomfield, signed off on the Eels’ request.
But in a worst-case scenario, the club could be liable for paying him out until the end of 2018 if it cannot reach agreement with the insurers. However, it’s believed a more likely outcome is that a compromise settlement will be reached between the club and its insurers.
Meanwhile, the Eels’ new administrators expect to recruit a new CEO, football manager and commercial boss in the next month or so.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/teams/eels/parramatta-ee...
