NRL set to put $400,000-a-year price tag on SBW's Roosters deal
By Sam Phillips
July 25, 2020 — 12.01am
What do Sonny Bill Williams, Shaun Lane, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and Tautau Moga all have in common? The NRL believes they all have a market value of about $400,000.
The Herald can reveal the NRL’s salary cap auditor – Richard Gardham – is poised to make Williams’ market value about $400,000 per year. That puts the two-time NRL premiership winning dual international on about the same pay scale as promising Eels forward Lane - who is on $450,000 a year at Parramatta - and Nicoll-Klokstad, who earns about $350,000 a year in Canberra.
Trent Robinson confirmed that the Roosters are looking to sign Sonny Bill Williams for at least the remainder of the 2020 season to add value to the club.
The NRL requires players to be registered on contracts they deem to be considered proper market value. Given most players have more than one suitor when they are negotiating a new contract – and their value, therefore, works itself out – the issue League Central has faced with Williams does not arise often.
The NRL generally tries to compare players at similar points in their careers, who play in similar positions and have reached similar heights in the game to put a market value on them.
That’s hard to do when there are currently no other 34-year-old dual internationals who have reached the pinnacle in both rugby codes across a remarkable 17-year career.
Multiple sources have told the
Herald the figure will likely settle around the $400,000 mark. Given the contract Williams is set to sign will be just four to five months long – the actual value deemed appropriate will be in the $150,000 range.
That happens to be almost exactly the amount of salary cap space the club has at its disposal, largely thanks to the departure of Cooper Cronk and Latrell Mitchell at the end of last season.
Fans of rival clubs have questioned how the Roosters’ premiership-winning roster could squeeze a player of Williams’ calibre inside their salary cap but ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys told the
Herald there have been no such qualms by club powerbrokers.
‘‘None at all. The thing about the clubs at the moment is that we’re all united,’’ V’landys said. ‘‘We need to promote the game. And one thing Sonny Bill Williams does is promote the game.
‘‘The more you promote the game, the better your revenue is. When you’re all united and stick together, everyone benefits. Bringing a brand like Sonny Bill Williams into our game will attract substantially more attention, which improves your ratings, which improves your revenue.’’
The ARL Commission will almost certainly overrule a condition that does not allow NRL players to be registered to other leagues around the world, should Toronto Wolfpack owner David Argyle renege on his promise to release Williams with the intention of re-signing him for the 2021 season.
V’landys does not expect attaining permission for Williams to enter the country to be a significant hurdle, given Bulldogs forward Luke Thompson was allowed into Melbourne from the UK earlier this year.
‘‘I think it will be all clear. I don’t see any reason why it won’t be,’’ V’landys said. ‘‘Based on the information I have, I think it will be approved.’’
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/nr...g-on-sbw-s-roosters-deal-20200724-p55f6i.html
