http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...s/news-story/006891e25dfbdd8f8313239ad45f14df
Aaron Woods committed, but Bulldogs cap uncertainty impacting on players
CHRISTIAN NICOLUSSI, The Daily Telegraph
an hour ago
CANTERBURY players appear bogged down by a ‘’nervous energy’’ as the club deals with intense speculation about their overcooked salary cap for 2018.
While big-money recruit Aaron Woods has no plans to backflip on his Belmore move next year and remain at the Wests Tigers, at least one senior rival player believed the uncertainty over who might be squeezed out had taken an emotional toll on Des Hasler’s current roster.
The NRL fired off a letter in April advising clubs to plan their 2018 roster based on $9.14 million, with the Bulldogs understood to have already splurged north of $10 million.
Greg Eastwood is on a heavily back-ended deal that will see him earn around $700,000 next season and already been shopped around for a few months.
Parramatta captain Tim Mannah, who celebrates 200 NRL games this weekend and also sits on the Rugby League Players’ Association board, said the Bulldogs situation had been impossible to ignore.
“You’d be a bit nervous,’’ Mannah said.
“You can almost see by the way they’re playing there’s a bit of that nervous energy.
“The uncertainty of what’s happening, it definitely plays on your mind as a player, so I can imagine what they’re probably going through as a team.
“As an outsider looking in — and I know if I was in their shoes — there’s that nervousness of what’s going to happen, who misses out, do they cut people? There are a lot of unknowns.’’
Woods said he had signed a long-term deal with the Dogs and planned to honour it.
Tigers officials do not expect to keep Woods, and even if the Dogs were forced to shed players and create space in their salary cap, the bearded prop would be one of the last to be asked to bail on Belmore.
Woods praised new Tigers coach Ivan Cleary and said his childhood club was heading in the right direction with him at the helm, including Sunday’s Leichhardt Oval clash against Manly.
“It’s disappointing to move on when they get a really good fella in like Ivan,’’ Woods said.
“But I’ve committed to doing what I’m doing next year, I’ve enjoyed my time under Ivan, and the next four weeks I won’t let him down.’’
