Warriors free up $525,000
10 July 2005
By STEVE KILGALLON
The Warriors have shed around $525,000 worth of players from next year's salary cap - but have still declared they have no room to recruit big-name outsiders for 2006.
A well-placed source told the Sunday Star-Times that the loss of marquee player Stacey Jones, boom young prop Iafeta Paleaaesina and the pre-season exit of test centre Vinnie Anderson has saved the club around $625,000, about one-fifth of the total cap of $A3.2m.
Upgrades of some lesser-paid players are estimated to total around just $100,000 a year - leaving a gap of more than half a million dollars.
But while the other 14 NRL clubs scramble for new signings in the annual July rush, the Warriors will be inactive.
The failure to go to the market raises the prospect of either one of two potential scenarios - the club plans to deliberately spend less on players than the cap allows, or, secondly, players signed in recent years have automatic upgrades that kick in next year and eat up the remaining money.
Another club source said the Warriors were committed to second-year increases on a series of contracts - allowing them little room to manoeuvre despite an under-performing squad.
It is understood Jones' exit will save the Warriors around $350,000 per season, while Anderson would have commanded around $175,000 a year and Paleaaesina - who won an upgraded deal last year - around $100,000.
The club has, so far this year, given Wairangi Koopu and Jerome Ropati new, improved deals and are negotiating with Karl Temata and Simon Mannering.
On the surface, that leaves a huge gap to be filled, but as the Sunday Star-Times revealed last month, the club does not intend to pursue new frontline players.
Chief executive Mick Watson reconfirmed that stance, saying: "We are not looking for a first grader. If someone comes in, then it would maybe be an elite development player - if I do look offshore. But it may be the case (they do not sign anyone)."
The Star-Times has been told the Warriors committed to giving certain players much-improved terms in the second year of their contracts - an established and legal tactic used by clubs, including the Bulldogs, to offset salary cap costs from one season into the next.
It can allow clubs flexibility in the first season, but increasingly constricts them over the second and third seasons of the cycle.
The Warriors signed props Ruben Wiki and Steve Price on substantial deals for this season, and also recruited established Australian first graders Todd Byrne and Nathan Fien in what Watson says was "an anomaly" from their established approach of promoting local talent.
He says the club's dismal 2004 form effectively forced him to spend to prevent a repeat performance - but that this year, with development manager John Ackland over 12 months into his appointment, he intends to re-focus on local juniors.
If there are big increases for players already signed, Wiki and Price are likely to head the queue with the loss of Jones, Anderson, Paleaaesina giving the club a way of accommodating them.
The other obvious explanation for the gap in the sums would be the Warriors choosing to operate below the cap in an effort to save costs - a suicidal approach in the ultra-competitive NRL.
"There is no significant gap in the salary cap," Watson said, although he failed to talk specifics.
"The sole purpose of the Warriors is to win a premiership. We're very proud of our commercial record and profitability and we do not want to sacrifice savings in the salary cap to help the performance of the business."
"If people do the stats, they will find our top 20 players put us in the top three in the NRL for the average number of games played. People expect us to buy but that's not how the system works.
"If Bartercard Cup players don't see a pathway into the Warriors and get a professional playing career, they will look elsewhere."
While Watson has said recently he wants the salary cap increased - a distinct possibility given the new TV contracts agreed by the NRL - he has also re-asserted his support of the concept.
Meanwhile, Watson said Temata was "looking around" but the club was confident of retaining him.
A new, upgraded three-year deal has also been put in front of 18-year-old prospect Mannering.
"We have made an offer for Simon to put in front of his parents in the next few weeks: there is no rush," Watson said.
The Sunday Star-Times understands the Warriors had a one-year contract option in their favour for Mannering, but wanted to tie him up for longer to prevent outside interest.
Sunday Star Times
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