Raiders fury at Kiwi rorts Wiki lured by 'illegal' offer
Doug MacDougall
Thursday, 23 February 2006
The Canberra Raiders are furious over the loss of former favourite son Ruben Wiki to NRL rivals the New Zealand Warriors after the overseas club was found to be in breach of the salary cap. Raiders general manager Don Furner lashed out at the Warriors yesterday after it became clear the ex-Raiders veteran was lured across the Tasman on "illegal" terms.
A preseason check into the Warriors administration by NRL salary cap auditors found various undisclosed infringements made by the club's former management.
Former chief executive Mick Watson, who resigned at the end of last season after five years in the job, headed the previous management team.
Wiki signed a three-year contract, believed to be in excess of $400,000 a season, with the Warriors in July 2004, ending his 11-year career with the Raiders.
At the time, the Raiders admitted they weren't even close to matching the Warriors' price, with $750,000 over three seasons their best offer.
The Raiders reacted angrily yesterday, claiming Wiki would still be with the club had the Warriors kept to the rules.
"We tried really, really hard to retain him and then all of the sudden you realise you're up against something you can't win against, something that's not a level playing field," Furner said.
"It's very frustrating, because he should still be with us."
"Nothing against Ruben, I don't begrudge anyone looking after themselves, But when New Zealand [signed Wiki] - which would now appear illegally - we were the ones that suffered. Yeah, we're very angry."
On the Gold Coast yesterday Wiki, one of the four recruits in 2004 believed to be central to some allegations, remained silent on the issue.
"The management will sort that out and the boys will just concentrate on footy," he said.
"Everyone will probably have a chat [with management] but ... it's not our problem mate."
While the full extent of the Warriors' salary cap breach hasn't been revealed, the club has gone into damage control, fearing the NRL will strip it of six competition points before the March 10 season kick-off.
The Bulldogs suffered a harsher penalty in 2002 for salary cap breaches, when they fell from the top of the ladder to wooden spooners after being stripped of competition 37 points.
Furner believed the Warriors deserved to start the season with less than zero points, but stopped short of saying they should be kicked out of the 2006 competition.
"That's probably too harsh," Furner said. "I'd certainly [say] points is really the way the club gets affected and, unless [the salary cap] isn't going to be policed properly, sometimes a monetary fine can be paid."
The Raiders were criticised after a horrific trading period in 2004 when Luke Davico and Wiki - both high-profile representative players - were lost to rival clubs after the anti-tampering deadline passed on July 1.
The loss of centre Joel Monaghan to the Sydney Roosters days later compounded the pressure, as rumours of club disharmony began to surface.
The losses led Raiders coach Matt Elliott to announce he would take a more hands-on role with recruitment in the future.
"We're very, very disappointed. You know we copped a lot of criticism for not retaining Ruben from our fans, even from our own players," Furner said. "We had a fair understanding about what we were up against in terms of the money, and we knew we could never ever match it. "[He's] one of our favourite sons, nobody wanted to see Ruben go. The players loved playing with him."
The Warriors have until close of business tomorrow to respond to the preliminary findings of the salary-cap investigation.
Meanwhile, the Raiders will play Jim Beam Cup teams Windsor and Wentworthville in a four-quarter trial match at their former home ground, Seiffert Oval on Saturday.
http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/de...y_id=460889&category=general sport&m=2&y=2006
Doug MacDougall
Thursday, 23 February 2006
The Canberra Raiders are furious over the loss of former favourite son Ruben Wiki to NRL rivals the New Zealand Warriors after the overseas club was found to be in breach of the salary cap. Raiders general manager Don Furner lashed out at the Warriors yesterday after it became clear the ex-Raiders veteran was lured across the Tasman on "illegal" terms.
A preseason check into the Warriors administration by NRL salary cap auditors found various undisclosed infringements made by the club's former management.
Former chief executive Mick Watson, who resigned at the end of last season after five years in the job, headed the previous management team.
Wiki signed a three-year contract, believed to be in excess of $400,000 a season, with the Warriors in July 2004, ending his 11-year career with the Raiders.
At the time, the Raiders admitted they weren't even close to matching the Warriors' price, with $750,000 over three seasons their best offer.
The Raiders reacted angrily yesterday, claiming Wiki would still be with the club had the Warriors kept to the rules.
"We tried really, really hard to retain him and then all of the sudden you realise you're up against something you can't win against, something that's not a level playing field," Furner said.
"It's very frustrating, because he should still be with us."
"Nothing against Ruben, I don't begrudge anyone looking after themselves, But when New Zealand [signed Wiki] - which would now appear illegally - we were the ones that suffered. Yeah, we're very angry."
On the Gold Coast yesterday Wiki, one of the four recruits in 2004 believed to be central to some allegations, remained silent on the issue.
"The management will sort that out and the boys will just concentrate on footy," he said.
"Everyone will probably have a chat [with management] but ... it's not our problem mate."
While the full extent of the Warriors' salary cap breach hasn't been revealed, the club has gone into damage control, fearing the NRL will strip it of six competition points before the March 10 season kick-off.
The Bulldogs suffered a harsher penalty in 2002 for salary cap breaches, when they fell from the top of the ladder to wooden spooners after being stripped of competition 37 points.
Furner believed the Warriors deserved to start the season with less than zero points, but stopped short of saying they should be kicked out of the 2006 competition.
"That's probably too harsh," Furner said. "I'd certainly [say] points is really the way the club gets affected and, unless [the salary cap] isn't going to be policed properly, sometimes a monetary fine can be paid."
The Raiders were criticised after a horrific trading period in 2004 when Luke Davico and Wiki - both high-profile representative players - were lost to rival clubs after the anti-tampering deadline passed on July 1.
The loss of centre Joel Monaghan to the Sydney Roosters days later compounded the pressure, as rumours of club disharmony began to surface.
The losses led Raiders coach Matt Elliott to announce he would take a more hands-on role with recruitment in the future.
"We're very, very disappointed. You know we copped a lot of criticism for not retaining Ruben from our fans, even from our own players," Furner said. "We had a fair understanding about what we were up against in terms of the money, and we knew we could never ever match it. "[He's] one of our favourite sons, nobody wanted to see Ruben go. The players loved playing with him."
The Warriors have until close of business tomorrow to respond to the preliminary findings of the salary-cap investigation.
Meanwhile, the Raiders will play Jim Beam Cup teams Windsor and Wentworthville in a four-quarter trial match at their former home ground, Seiffert Oval on Saturday.
http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/de...y_id=460889&category=general sport&m=2&y=2006
