this "arm's length" crap is bullshit
what the f**k does it actually mean and how does an agent or club prove or demonstrate that they have complied with the "arm's length" rule, if there is such a rule ?
surely that is not how it is worded in the NRL policy or rules but it's always the terminology we see used in the media
some clubs must have pretty short arms
I remember reading that the TPA can’t be contingent on the player signing with a given club. Obviously that would be very difficult to enforce. But even if it were enforced, over time the situation would emerge where TPAs associated with some club partners always paid up, no matter how little was required from the players, while TPAs with other clubs were unreliable, or had onerous requirements on the player’s free time. This would have the effect of conferring greater value on the TPAs associated with some clubs than others.
Consider the situation of a genuine TPA arranged by the Eels (for example). They have someone who wants to sponsor the club and Sarantinos says, could you provide this to a player as a TPA? The potential sponsor asks what it means, and Sarantinos says you can’t use the club’s imagery, but you get exclusive access to the player to help promote your business or entertain your golf friends or whatever. The potential sponsor wants his money’s worth. He’s not going to have his business promoted by the club at official events, so he will need the player to do some work.
Meanwhile the player doesn’t want a second job. He just wants the extra cash he was promised to reduce his salary demands to help the club under the cap. His mate at the Roosters (for example) doesn’t have to do anything for his TPA except turn up at a Christmas party and drink for two hours. The TPA provider doesn’t care because the $100k was given to him by an individual paying out of his own pocket, which he is free to do.
However, the Eels need to account for their expenditure because they are a business subject to regulation and oversight by the NRL. So they can’t just give cash to TPA providers to transfer it to the players. This is actually one of the things we got caught doing in 2016.