denis preston
First Grade
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- 8,785
Great article as he had to be carefull in how he put it out but obviously one writer is calling the mockery that is third party payments, jobs for life etc that the rorters are getting away with on a salary cap. *Sentences deleted*
Malcolm Knox
Sports columnist
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On grand final weekend, the National Rugby League can reflect on an excellent year. The quality of games, week after week, has been bracing. The Origin series was one of the most exciting. Emerging talent is already tiding the game over from the loss of Johnathan Thurston, Greg Inglis and others.
League’s ability to regenerate is simply, take it away Tina, the best.
If the Raiders win, neutrals will celebrate, but it would not allay the problem that blind Freddie can see. Maybe the other Freddie isn’t too blind to see it either. It’s the lop-sided concentration of elite talent. It’s how all at once an already strong club can buy, from other clubs, the game’s best player and fullback, the best halfback, and arguably the next-best playmaker, to supplement what they already had, which was the game’s best centre, best second-rower and two of the best props. After they won last year’s premiership, they somehow added an Origin second-rower and winger. It’s a monopoly on talent that hadn’t previously existed in the salary cap era. The Roosters are the new Manly. Wasn’t the cap meant to ensure that there could never be a new Manly?
The Roosters maintain that they have not broken the salary cap rules. They get audited like everybody else, so let’s accept that their accumulation of talent is legit. This is not actually good for the NRL. They’d be better off if the Roosters were caught cheating. As it is, the NRL have a 16-car pile-up at an intersection and their investigations reveal that nobody was breaking 60km/h. Great. But they’ve still got a pile-up.
The Roosters will say, quite fairly, that their advantages in these areas do not guarantee a premiership or an uneven competition. Look at the Broncos, who have more scope for inducements outside the cap than any other club.
A team still has to be well led and well coached and do the job on the field. So why shouldn’t they be rewarded for that? If the Roosters can manufacture an advantage to build a super team, they still need to make the most of that advantage, and isn’t it up to the other clubs to work out how they can catch up? Isn’t the strength of a sport built on leaders setting new standards – therefore establishing inequality – which stimulates the opposition to do better?
To all those claims, the answer is yes. But it leaves the NRL talking out of both sides of its mouth, policing an ineffective salary cap with worthy aims but a credibility gap, while also celebrating the triumph of inequality. As a paternalistic pat on the head for all those fans of clubs who are not involved in the finals, the NRL says: "Someone has to come last and someone has to win, regardless of what they spend." Suck it up, buttercup.
But let’s not pretend. (Is anyone still pretending?) The salary cap has long failed to level the playing field. Clubs have left it behind.
You don’t have to be a cheat to prosper. Grand final day belongs to the best, as it should, but if the best can be seen coming from too far out, there will eventually be little point watching.
Link: https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/if...-the-elephant-in-the-nrl-20191004-p52xnd.html
*URL LINK ADDED BY MODERATOR - WARNINGS SENT*
Malcolm Knox
Sports columnist
Send via Email
Leave a comment
On grand final weekend, the National Rugby League can reflect on an excellent year. The quality of games, week after week, has been bracing. The Origin series was one of the most exciting. Emerging talent is already tiding the game over from the loss of Johnathan Thurston, Greg Inglis and others.
League’s ability to regenerate is simply, take it away Tina, the best.
If the Raiders win, neutrals will celebrate, but it would not allay the problem that blind Freddie can see. Maybe the other Freddie isn’t too blind to see it either. It’s the lop-sided concentration of elite talent. It’s how all at once an already strong club can buy, from other clubs, the game’s best player and fullback, the best halfback, and arguably the next-best playmaker, to supplement what they already had, which was the game’s best centre, best second-rower and two of the best props. After they won last year’s premiership, they somehow added an Origin second-rower and winger. It’s a monopoly on talent that hadn’t previously existed in the salary cap era. The Roosters are the new Manly. Wasn’t the cap meant to ensure that there could never be a new Manly?
The Roosters maintain that they have not broken the salary cap rules. They get audited like everybody else, so let’s accept that their accumulation of talent is legit. This is not actually good for the NRL. They’d be better off if the Roosters were caught cheating. As it is, the NRL have a 16-car pile-up at an intersection and their investigations reveal that nobody was breaking 60km/h. Great. But they’ve still got a pile-up.
The Roosters will say, quite fairly, that their advantages in these areas do not guarantee a premiership or an uneven competition. Look at the Broncos, who have more scope for inducements outside the cap than any other club.
A team still has to be well led and well coached and do the job on the field. So why shouldn’t they be rewarded for that? If the Roosters can manufacture an advantage to build a super team, they still need to make the most of that advantage, and isn’t it up to the other clubs to work out how they can catch up? Isn’t the strength of a sport built on leaders setting new standards – therefore establishing inequality – which stimulates the opposition to do better?
To all those claims, the answer is yes. But it leaves the NRL talking out of both sides of its mouth, policing an ineffective salary cap with worthy aims but a credibility gap, while also celebrating the triumph of inequality. As a paternalistic pat on the head for all those fans of clubs who are not involved in the finals, the NRL says: "Someone has to come last and someone has to win, regardless of what they spend." Suck it up, buttercup.
But let’s not pretend. (Is anyone still pretending?) The salary cap has long failed to level the playing field. Clubs have left it behind.
You don’t have to be a cheat to prosper. Grand final day belongs to the best, as it should, but if the best can be seen coming from too far out, there will eventually be little point watching.
Link: https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/if...-the-elephant-in-the-nrl-20191004-p52xnd.html
*URL LINK ADDED BY MODERATOR - WARNINGS SENT*
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