Sam Burgess retires

[Vic Mackey]

I don’t have a problem if Souths can request the NRL to medically retire GI & Burgess, however if Sam’s decision is made before Matulino it just shows how much harder it is going to be for the less favoured clubs.

Souths and the Broncos will get an answer straight away, allowing them to collectively sign Fifita, Arrow, Matterson and Latrell. Then the Tigers will be given an answer after everyone else is signed and end up with Aiden Tolman.

 

[Tiger5150]

If he retires, he retires. He's not owed any money by Souths. If he wants to take up an off-field job at Souths then he gets the amount that job is worth, if its say $500k and Souths still want to pay him $1.2m a year then the remaining $700k goes on the cap.

In what universe, on what planet does an ex football player, with no credentials or qualifications get a job for $500K. What job does a Sam Burgess get after football that is worth $500K?

Same goes for Inglis.

 

[Tiger5150]

For GI I think it was the realisation that he was no longer an elite player that did it for him. He could have continued on and been a solid NRL player, but after an entire lifetime of utterly dominating every level he's ever played at, just being "good" wasn't enough for him.

For Sam, he only knows 1 speed, and it's why he's been as good as he was. Could the Roosters have told Morley to 'calm down' and not play as hard? You get what you get from players like that. If Sam wanted to play a game I don't think anyone at any club could have stopped him. That drive won us a premiership, so you have to take the good with the bad.

Dont kid yourself. For both of them it was the tap on the shoulder from creeping death.

 

[Peter Quinn]

For which there's workers comp....

Then let them pay him. But we can't claim it back then.

 

[Tiger5150]

Nothing personal but It’s borderline stupidity to suggest the Burgess contract is out of the norm and to equate it to a fictional 20 year deal that has never and will never be done us even more stupid

Lets make it simple. The NRL rule for the medical retirement (no cap) is that it had to happen in a single incident, in a single game and not be degeneration of a previous injury.

Sam Burgess has had 2 reconstrcutions ON THAT SHOULDER prior to his last contract. Souffs rolled the dice and it f**ked up. On 2MMM Mark Carroll said that Burgess told him it was arthritis. By offering Sam such a good deal, it prevented him going to an other club. It is blatant rorting of the cap.

 

[Peter Quinn]

Yeah tend to agree. Not sure how that works with nrl contracts.

I think you will find Souths pay him they'll get to spend that again.

 

[Peter Quinn]

For which there's workers comp....

There must be plenty of money in league.

 

[Tiger5150]

He would be paid through insurance

Then why did Souffs ask for their payment to be exempt?

 

[yobbo84]

Lets make it simple. The NRL rule for the medical retirement (no cap) is that it had to happen in a single incident, in a single game and not be degeneration of a previous injury.

Sam Burgess has had 2 reconstrcutions ON THAT SHOULDER prior to his last contract. Souffs rolled the dice and it f**ked up. On 2MMM Mark Carroll said that Burgess told him it was arthritis. By offering Sam such a good deal, it prevented him going to an other club. It is blatant rorting of the cap.

The arthritis is caused by the infection.

 

[Tiger5150]

The arthritis is caused by the infection.

Uh huh.......in the shoulder he has had two PREVIOUS reconstructions on?

 

[Tiger5150]

And apparently souths fans would see no issue with this. You just have to make a job for them. Crocker can be a goal kicking coach, rock up to a 3 or 4 games a year in a polo like GI does and get paid $250k for 5 years. Then Papalli can be a dietrary specialist on $300k for 2 years. No problems whatsoever

Apparently $500K is the going rate.

 

[wazdog]

Under NRL rules, the salary cap auditor will consider the following three points before making a cap exemption ruling:

“The Player, at the time of termination, was diagnosed as medically unfit to currently continue to train and play elite level contact sport and was medically unable to ever return to play elite level contact sport due to the current level of disability or the significant risk of further disabling injury as a result of playing elite level contract sport"

This should be as straight forward as reviewing the medical advice the club has received from several doctors. The key part of this is "significant risk or further disabling injury" in the future.

The NRL may wish to seek their own advice on this, but you would have thought that the club got opinions from the best doctors in the world.

If his insurance pays out, the NRL should take this as third party verification which ticks this box.

"The Player, had no similar injury or medical condition to that area of the body that either has or could reasonably be predicted medically to lead to a degenerative condition of that area of the body prior to signing his last NRL contract or if the players contract was signed more than 24 months previous within the last 24 months unless an unrelated single event has resulted in rapid deterioration of this condition" and

Last shoulder injury was in 2011, 8 years ago as reported by Fox Sports. Condition met.

"A single event that caused the injury could be identified.”

The event is being reported as an infection from the surgery mid-season.

It looks pretty clear cut to me if the first condition is met.

The only element of his contract that I believe should remain in the cap is if the club decides to pay Sammy the shortfall between an insurance pay out and his contracted salary if he walks away from the club.

If they decide to put him in a non-administrative role his salary should count towards the Football Operations Cap.

Interesting that the decision is being made by a guy who has zero background in anything close to the field of medicine.

 

[Tiger5150]

“Do this”

what did they do?

Signed a bloke who has had two previous shoulder reconstructions on his left shoulder and then ask to medically retire him when it goes bung again.

 

[Tiger5150]

I guess it depends on what you define as career ending.
Sure he could play physically play on. Unless you’ve had your legs blown off pretty much everyone could play on. However if you’re left crippled due to playing on I would say it should be considered career ending.

it doesnt matter actually according to the NRL rules. It has to be an injury that occured in a specific game and at a specific time and not a previous injury that has degenerated. He had TWO previous reconstructions on that shoulder before his last contract. Then he busts that shoulder again, then he gets the infection. It is a clearly a degeneration of a previous injury

 

[lynx000]

For which there's workers comp....

Workers' compensation does not generally cover professional athletes.

 

[Tiger5150]

No they are not, this would usually be covered by an insurance claim. I imagine they aren't confident it would succeed.

in all seriousness, I hate Souffs but appreciate S Burgess was a great player. IF the insurance compny legitimately pays the claim and Souffs dont pay it, I dont think it should count in the cap, but how do you administer it? PLus I just cant see an insurance co paying out on a guy who was signed after 2 reconstructions.

 

[Tiger5150]

There's no doubt he injured his shoulder previously. But the fact the infection came after surgery, .

and the surgery came after busting a shoulder that had been reconstructed twice before.....is it so hard?

 

[Tiger5150]

Rubbish. The complication arose from the virus he contracted after the operation.
I’ve got a mate who went in for a routine operation to fix his leg. Got golden staff and now they are likely to amputate it
It was the virus that did the damage

do you really believe Burgess is faking this. The bloke would be desperate to keep playing

Golden staph and the infection that Burgess got are not viruses. It doesnt matter how tough Burgess is. Souffs signed a guy who had had 2 left shoulder reconstructions for another 4 years and F me running, it broke again....who would have thought that could happen....oh well. Can we have a medical cap magic act please?

 

[wazdog]

it doesnt matter actually according to the NRL rules. It has to be an injury that occured in a specific game and at a specific time and not a previous injury that has degenerated. He had TWO previous reconstructions on that shoulder before his last contract. Then he busts that shoulder again, then he gets the infection. It is a clearly a degeneration of a previous injury

Since his last shoulder injury in 2011 he:

1. Signed a contract with Bath Rugby in 2015
2. Signed a new contract with Rabbitohs in 2016
3. Signed an extension with the Rabbitohs in 2018

That's three contracts.

 

[Tiger5150]

I think it's only fair. The loss of 3.6 M is enough punishment. Why should they be punished again?

You really dont understand how the salary cap works do you?