Telegraph: Trading war

[Hurriflatch]

NRL

Trading war

By DEAN RITCHIE Rugby League Writer

July 15, 2004

THE contentious debate over mid-season transfers exploded last night after Parramatta boss Denis Fitzgerald drew up a radical plan to solve the game's most pressing issue.


Fitzgerald is adamant the issue is a matter of urgency and should be discussed, and solved, at the next chief executives' conference on August 10 – not held over until the NRL's annual conference in December.

Under the Fitzgerald proposal, clubs would have a one-month trading period starting on the existing June 30 deadline.


All negotiations would then be banned again until after the grand final in October.


However, Fitzgerald, who is also the NRL's club council chairman, came under attack from rival officials, especially in Queensland.


Cowboys CEO Denis Keeffe was particularly vocal, declaring: "Rubbish. Ridiculous. Sorry, Denis you've missed again. You can't confuse the fans by having players signing elsewhere mid-season."


And Broncos CEO Bruno Cullen said: "Once you start the negotiating process, how the hell are you going to stop at midnight on July 31?".


But an angry Fitzgerald hit back, saying: "These two CEOs are blow-ins. They've only been in the game five minutes."


Fitzgerald said he would rally support for his initiative, with rugby league split over whether to push the June 30 deadline back until after the grand final.


A battle is looming with players demanding the deadline stay in place and most club chief executives calling for a move to October.


The issue has raged this week after Bulldogs fans expressed anger at loyal captain Steve Price announcing mid-season he would play the next three years with New Zealand.


Fitzgerald said the matter needed to be resolved quickly.


"This is such a hot topic that we must get a resolution swiftly – we can't let it drag on and on," Fitzgerald said.


"My plan would have a window of opportunity for clubs to contract players.


"I think June 30 should stay but clubs could sign players between July 1 and July 31.


"That would keep August free of negotiations and free of speculation for the run into the finals.


"We would re-open for negotiations straight after the grand final."


Told that fans would still have to face player signings mid-season, Fitzgerald said: "Tough luck. This would also place pressure on players and clubs to make up their minds and ensure these negotiations don't drag on through the season."


Fitzgerald said a similar transfer window was available to European soccer teams.


"I'll certainly be pushing for this to be introduced," Fitzgerald said.


NRL chief executive David Gallop last night confirmed he had discussed the plan with Fitzgerald.


"I'm not sure it solves the problems but it is worth considering," Gallop said.


"We are open to a range of options and we want people thinking about exactly what we can discuss at the end of the year."

 

[strider]

I only bothered reading the first sentence and I'm thinking - #-o oh no, what now dennis?

 

[Twizzle]

Dennis

shut the hell up

 

[Misty Bee]

I note that the players want the current system maintained - and that's good enough for me. The last thing we want is to have player negs during finals again. I can still remember Peter Jackson and Tony Currie take the field for Canberra in a semi as the news broke that they were joiining Brisbane - and playing shit.

Gotta applaud the 'blow in' jibe though.

 

[The Colonel]

I agree with Denis - the issue should be discussed sooner rather than later as it will only come up again and again until its resolved. The thing is for the long term viability of clubs you can't expect negotiations to be done in October. There is basically 4 months between seasons at present and to make such a decision in a short space of time is going to lead to panicked decisions.

 

[half]

well his idea certainly has merit. european soccer has a transfer window in the middle of the season

essentially it would mean players can still have their futures sorted out early, but there's no mess going on during the finals

don't let those blow-ins tell you this is stupid

 

[fish eel]

at leat he is putting an idea out there, more than those blow in are doing :lol:

 

[Belly in Brisvegas]

I note that the players want the current system maintained - and that's good enough for me. The last thing we want is to have player negs during finals again. I can still remember Peter Jackson and Tony Currie take the field for Canberra in a semi as the news broke that they were joiining Brisbane - and playing sh*t.

Gotta applaud the 'blow in' jibe though.

Tony Currie never played for Canberra...he played for Canterbury.

 

[True EEL]

Dennis may actually have made a decent point here......his proposal stops it all going on past July and into the semi's etc

however...................Matt Elliot (Canberra Coach) made a valid point on NRL on FOX's State of the Game last night when he said that other codes in Australia (AFL) and nearly all codes in USA have trading periods out of the regular season, which apart from all of the problems it causes during the season....gives extra exposure to each code when it is not really in the public eye?????

such as the trading period in the NBA now in America......Shaquille O'Neal just got traded from the LA Lakers for 4 players from the Miami Heat.....OH NO!!!!!.......its the biggest thing in Basketball since i don't know what.......so it is a good point for extra exposure for the code if Rugby League did it???? apart from solving player and team unrest...........

 

[Eels Dude]

I think his idea is worth considering. It's definately a better option than moving transfers to the end of the season, that isn't fair on the players. In the Herald article it quoted Denis as saying we would never have signed Glenn Morrison had the deadline been in October, he would have already signed with Bradford. That's a good point, we could see more players moving to the UK to take up offers than having to wait till the end of season to negotiate with other clubs.

 

[mickdo]

In the Herald article it quoted Denis as saying we would never have signed Glenn Morrison had the deadline been in October, he would have already signed with Bradford. That's a good point, we could see more players moving to the UK to take up offers than having to wait till the end of season to negotiate with other clubs.

Exactly. I think this is the biggest reason to keep the mid season trading period.

 

[Eelementary]

For me, it's tremendously exciting to have the SIlly Season in this part of the year.

I love the rumours and speculation.

Pushing it back to the end of the season is just dumb.

What is the issue anyway? As Barrett said, they are professional players. They must deal with these issues.

The system is fine as it is IMHO.

 

[Eelectrica]

Actually I think Fitzys idea is a good compromise. Players that wish to get things sorted out early can, and those that would rather shop around at the end of the year and find a club that suits best still can.

As Carty pointed out on the NRL show, an expansion team is going to need time to put together a team.

 

[Hollywood Jesus]

Do we get such a big notice before we have to change jobs? Nope! The average Joe Blow gets the sack and is given two weeks notice! I don't care if they are professional athletes, they are still workers, aren't they? Gimme a break, please!

Most people when traded move within the Sydney area. Of the 15 Clubs in the comp, 9 are based in Sydney, and so this moving and changing around crap is a whole load of bull! BUT, there is such a problem when dealing with moving to or from Melbourne, Townsville, brisbane, Auckland, Canberra and Newcastle.

The answer is simple - if a Club wants to relocate a player, they should be responsible for all th crap that comes with it. Hook up with a real estate so they can provide housing at short notice (and as if a landlord wouldn't automatically approve of an NRL star moving into their leased home.) They should be in constant contact with local schools anyway if they are serious about promoting junior development, and for those not in the Top 25 who may need part time work, it's quite simple.....get talking to your sponsors and Corporate Box holders and work deals where they can get employment options for those who need work.

It comes down to this one thing - players want the world laid at their feet because they believe they are the centre of rugby league's universe, when everyone else knows that it is US who should get first consideration because without the fans these boys would be packing boxes in factories for 50 years (yet we could always get more players willing to play under any sort of changed rules).

The RLPA, while obviously providing some good points in favour of players, is nothing but your typical left-wing union crapfest. Move the deadline to after the Grand Final, end of story.

 

[WA Eel]

Don't agree with HJ. Yes, we don't get that much notice when we get sacked, but similarly, if we choose to change jobs, we aren't limited to only a few months at the end of each year.

Love him or hate him, but you have to admitt that DF has a made quite a good suggestion. I guess you don't get to be the longest serving CEO in the game by being a complete idiot;