BUMP!
Ok - I've got an answer on all this for us.
As far as match payments go - the things that I've been saying are correct. I'm not detailing how it works again right now, but you can look up the rules on those on the NRL website.
It's enough for me to say that Kingston is NOT leaving the club because of match payments - those have nothing to do with his scenario
The problem is "bonuses".
These are given IF a player reaches a certain "target".
I'm speculating here, but it would APPEAR as if Kingston's contract included some bonuses - ie, play 15 first grade games; if we make the semi-finals and he's in the squad; turn up to training every week all year.
Basically a bonus could be anything the club wanted to set him as a target to work towards - and, from all the discussion that we've been hearing, it would appear as if his bonuses totalled $50k.
This bonus will be calculated against the cap of whichever team he plays for in the FOLLOWING year - the salary cap auditor measures this based on the previous season's performances.
So, if his bonus was for turning up to training every week, and he achieved it, then it's assumed that he will do the same the following season - so will count as +$50k on top of his base salary (minimum 50k)
So his minimum 'cap amount' for next year is $100k. But NOT based on match payments, rather based on achieving certain pre-determined "bonuses" by the club.
Bad luck Kinga.
