THE NRL has ''more questions to ask'' about Greg Inglis's deal with South Sydney, and a decision on whether the contract will be accepted in its current form will be delayed until next week.
''I'm sure this situation must be frustrating for Greg, but it is a unique situation for the league to deal with as well,'' NRL chief executive David Gallop said yesterday.
''He had two more years to run on his contract with Melbourne, for a certain value, and was also very close to signing with the Broncos, so we need to fully understand what led to the change of position and what constitutes his remuneration to play football at Souths.
Advertisement: Story continues below
''The message that is given time and time again is make sure you get your third-party arrangements sorted out before you go too far with players and contracts, and certainly this is a situation where that message is most important.
''Announcing that players are signed with clubs should not be done until you have actually got everything in place. Everyone accepts that third-party agreements are the most difficult part of the salary cap, but if rules weren't there players could be paid by third parties and there would be no point in having a salary cap.
''We have received some information about the third-party agreements lodged by Souths, but we have got more questions to ask. Everyone in the game, including Souths, would expect nothing less than a thorough investigation of this situation.''
Gallop's comments are the clearest indication yet that if the league believes at least some of the third-party deals were used to induce Inglis to sign - as opposed to having been negotiated after he had agreed to terms - then those deals were effectively guaranteed by the club.
That would result in Inglis being counted at a higher figure under the cap than the one lodged by Souths.
Under the current terms of the deal, Inglis is to be paid $190,000 under the cap for the first year, plus a car valued at $25,000 and a marquee-player allowance of $100,000. Four third-party deals worth a total of $200,000 come on top of that.
In the second and third years of the back-ended contract, the payment under the cap rises to $350,000 while everything else stays the same.
Souths lodged the Inglis contract with the league on Friday, November 26, which means that after today salary cap auditor Ian Schubert will have been examining it for two weeks. Souths were hoping for a decision this week, but will now have to bide their time.
''We've had no indication of when there will be a decision,'' chief executive Shane Richardson said yesterday.
There has been much speculation about the nature of the contract since Souths co-owner Russell Crowe appeared on American TV last month and revealed Inglis would be paid $1.8 million over three years.
It is not clear whether Souths would have to shed one of their other players to fit Inglis under the cap if the league raised the figure at which he would be counted.
Meanwhile, Timana Tahu's departure from Parramatta is likely to be confirmed tomorrow. It is understood the Eels management has been negotiating a payout with a Tahu representative on his contract for next year.
Tahu was recently granted leave from training to deal with what have been described as complex personal issues, and is believed to have sought to be further excused until February. But the club was not prepared to grant that extra time while the rest of the squad did pre-season work.
