Parramatta Eels sign Josh Papalii for 2014

[strider]

so - does anyone know what a club's position is with this whole June/round 13 thing? (not that any of us actually KNOW anything real :lol

if a club signs a deal, and the player subsequently won't fully commit ... are they bound by the deal? is it only the player who can do a backflip?

 

[oldmancraigy]

Fair call.
But him and his manager are only playing the hand the NRL has allowed them to be dealt. I'd be feeling the same way with the shoe on the other foot. No one wants their club to be paying good money for a guy that doesnt want to be there. Frankly as a Raiders fans, i couldnt give a shit if you blokes think he's a lying dirt bag if it means he stays with the Raiders. He's a talented kid and where ever he lands is going to get, i think, this generations Rubin Wiki.

The bloke needs to sit down with those nearest and dearest and figure out what he wants to do, it's fairly apparent whether he signed a deal or not, his mind was far from made up.

I dont know whether he's a machiavellian genius, who is purposely leveraging Parramatta's deal against the ours to get more cash out of us, or just a kid who's made some honest mistakes in signing a deal before he was sure he wanted to leave, or he's just blowing smoke up Canberra's arse to make life a bit easier for himself during his final year.

Hopefully we get a result in the coming days, one way or the other, so both clubs can move on to other areas of recruitment and retention with some air of certainity.

I recommend you read this thread:

http://forums.leagueunlimited.com/showthread.php?t=201746


Similar situation, but with Parra being Canberra. Bottom line: it doesn't work out for the team who lost the player.

 

[Craig Johnston]

speaking of canberra and the shoe on the other foot, this is good reading;

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/smith-row-gets-ugly/story-e6frfgef-1111116571324

 

[broncos2010]

I feel sorry for the eels here they think they have singed a good 2nd rower but with these NRL rules they may as well lose him in the next couple weeks.

I am thinking its just paps agent putting the price up on his contract so raiders fork out way overs to keep him which I really don't think they have too as they have heaps of quality in the 2nd row.

 

[parra-matters]

as with all the media so far on this there is direct quote from the player involved.

 

[Tooooks]

He's signed a contract whether it's registered with the NRL or not. Surely there are legal consequences for breach of contract?

On the plus side, if he backflips, at least we have some good coin saved for another backrower (providing there's a good one off contract).

 

[Gronk]

I feel sorry for the eels here they think they have singed a good 2nd rower but with these NRL rules they may as well lose him in the next couple weeks.

I am thinking its just paps agent putting the price up on his contract so raiders fork out way overs to keep him which I really don't think they have too as they have heaps of quality in the 2nd row.

If you think that a player signed a contract with another club with the sole intention of inducing a higher offer from his current club, then you are dreaming big time.

 

[natheel]

Again an article with no quotes from josh about wanting to stay

Look I'm sure they're trying to keep him etc etc but why put a media ban on the guy and not let him speak the truth of what he actually wants to do.

To me he has signed a bloody contract. Yes raiders can Match it and r can renege but nothing from josh himself is being said about not wanting to stay its all raiders insiders claiming this.

Until he comes out and says otherwise take all these 'I don't want to leave canberra' stories with a grain of salt. If he was so sure he wanted to stay he wouldn't have signed the initial contract. He would have said hang on let me get back to raiders for their offer like any other player but he didn't he signed (tells me he wanted to go)

This is getting ridiculous with all the speculation! Raiders need to remove the ban and let him bloody speak his mind. To me the ban is a way to try and get inside his head because he seems to be pretty easily influenced

 

[Craig Johnston]

i really don't like the risk of hanging possibly till round 13, what stops us from demanding an unconditional contract? eg papalii is taken to court if he reneges, not canberra.

if he doesnt want to risk the money, i don't see why he wouldn't sign it, if he doesn't sign within 2 weeks, then tear it up and move on

 

[Maroubra Eel]

so - does anyone know what a club's position is with this whole June/round 13 thing? (not that any of us actually KNOW anything real :lol

if a club signs a deal, and the player subsequently won't fully commit ... are they bound by the deal? is it only the player who can do a backflip?

Even if the club isn't bound, they would still have to honour the contract. Otherwise nobody would wantto sign with us.

 

[hybrideel]

If you think that a player signed a contract with another club with the sole intention of inducing a higher offer from his current club, then you are dreaming big time.

Maybe not but it's a hell of an insurance policy

 

[84 Baby]

He's signed a contract whether it's registered with the NRL or not. Surely there are legal consequences for breach of contract?

On the plus side, if he backflips, at least we have some good coin saved for another backrower (providing there's a good one off contract).

The legal consequences are easy, although it does come down to court's judgement. Usually, offending party (player) reimburses other party (club) for any costs associated with enforcing contract/resolving dispute/litigation, they also pay any quantifiable damages (if we make a massive billboard with his face all over it) however the obvious damage of losing him to another team, not signing a like for like talent and the time taken between negotiation and arbitration are difficult to quantify so it's unlikely the club will be in an even situation to if he had honoured contract. Injunctions have also been enforced in the past, a la Lyon/$BW (be interesting if one was requested in this circumstance).

The issue that this has highlighted is the inconsistencies between legislation/legally enforceable common law & the rules of the NRL. In everyday life, you sign a contract and decide later you can't fulfill it, you go to the other party and negotiate a release from that contract probably with some expense to you. However in the NRL, the signature of players is hotly contested at times and the need for talented players is necessary to be any way successful, so to lose a signed player to a competitor, even with payment of damages, is inequitably advantageous to the player and the club who signed him after breaking contract compared to the party offended against.

The NRL need to make the salary cap rules a lot more transparent and frankly, although the players association will be massively against it, players' salaries need to be made more transparent

 

[Mr Pmatta]

If the insider is to be believed, that clearing the air session came before our bulldogs trial, which was the day after Parramatta announced his deal

Im just not sure why some of you have such issue admitting the kid is still trying to decide his future.

Here's a thought decide and then sign instead of signing and then deciding, stop talking rubbish mate, he shouldn't of signed if he was not sure, personally I would b fine if Parra pulled out.

 

[parra-matters]

don't the raiders have to at least match our contract but can't use 3rd party deal to do so?
That was how i understood the rules, so maybe our club really are in the box seat and that why we signed him so early.

 

[IFR33K]

If you think that a player signed a contract with another club with the sole intention of inducing a higher offer from his current club, then you are dreaming big time.

A player maybe not, but would you put it past a player agent?

 

[Raider_69]

Here's a thought decide and then sign instead of signing and then deciding,

I couldnt agree more with you, and have said as much a number of times. The kid was foolish to put pen to paper before carefully considering what he actually wanted to do.

The only rubbish being talked is by Parra fans with heads in the sands, saying the idea that the bloke is having 2nd thoughts is just some canberra based media cover up or something.

 

[Raider_69]

A player maybe not, but would you put it past a player agent?

I wouldnt put a f**king thing past those pricks. Absolute scum bags, the lot of them.

 

[natheel]

don't the raiders have to at least match our contract but can't use 3rd party deal to do so?
That was how i understood the rules, so maybe our club really are in the box seat and that why we signed him so early.

That's my understanding also

And money wise we are in the box seat indeed. But these reports suggest location/preference wise canberra are in the box seat...which doesn't make sense. If he loves it there why sign. His agent would have known raiders were getting a proposal ready for Tuesday (allegedly) so why sign? If he was that desperate to stay he wouldve gone ok parra ill see what raiders have on Tuesday and make a decision and this debacle would be side tracked.

But like I said waiting for the player himself to confirm where he will be next year

 

[natheel]

I wouldnt put a f**king thing past those pricks. Absolute scum bags, the lot of them.

Who is his manager? If this is the case of signing to get a better deal at raiders surely signing the actuall contract wasn't necessary...just talk to the clubs regarding offers.

Regardless if the outcome NRL needs to f**k this rule off

 

[Twizzle]

I couldnt agree more with you, and have said as much a number of times. The kid was foolish to put pen to paper before carefully considering what he actually wanted to do.

The only rubbish being talked is by Parra fans with heads in the sands, saying the idea that the bloke is having 2nd thoughts is just some canberra based media cover up or something.

I disagree

we dont know what he is thinking because they have gagged him and even worse, they are now speaking for him