The NRL has drawn up $3m plan to keep star players in rugby league

[Perth Red]

Has Brisbane or Australia had better wingers than Sailor and Tuqiri in the time they were away? It a load of rubbish to say these star players are easily replaced, that level of talent is a very rare commodity.

 

[Jaeger's Ghost]

Is this the level of intelligence that bounds about these forums? Not going to say you are dumb, you are not....you just got mixed up.

You got it back to front.....without the stars, our sport is nothing. Personalities are ALWAYS bigger than the game. We do not watch rl to see a ball flying through the air, or flesh hitting flesh....we watch it because CERTAIN PEOPLE are doing those things.

Sport and people, sport and personalities, sport and icons, are all intertwined. But in this chicken or the egg first case, the stars come first.

If you support a club it doesn't matter who plays. As long as the playing field is level then most fans are happy. If you want celebs then watch a bit more E News and get a subscription to a gossip mag.

 

[franklin2323]

Has Brisbane or Australia had better wingers than Sailor and Tuqiri in the time they were away? It a load of rubbish to say these star players are easily replaced, that level of talent is a very rare commodity.

That's not the point have the Broncos struggled without them??? Or the game??? They go and new players come in

 

[$$Poor Boy Blues$$]

If you support a club it doesn't matter who plays. As long as the playing field is level then most fans are happy. If you want celebs then watch a bit more E News and get a subscription to a gossip mag.

lmao.....hate for you to be running the show....no wait....you probably do....hi mr gallop

and f**k off mr gallop, you toad, go ask Mr "hearts" how you should feel about this.....then he can wipe your bum

That's not the point have the Broncos struggled without them??? Or the game??? They go and new players come in

they do but stars are icons. name one national hockey player off the top of your head. thats a good test.

The ARU's or AFL's gain is our gaping wound...

If you think we do not need stars then you are a dead set idiot. If you look back on the 80's and 90's, you might remember such names as Sterling, Lewis, Etinghousen, Miles, Meninga, Lazarus, Langer....THEY ADD PRESTIGE AND GLOSS to the game, they lift it higher.

Imagine how good our game would be if all those players were off playing Union or AFL....our game would be worse for it....because those sports would be better having stolen our players.

 

[eagles4eva]

My point, ok raise the salary cap to say 6 million, for how long and what's next 8million in three of five years time???

Whats happens if the NRL doesnt get the one billion TV deal??, i certainly hope it does, player need to be paid and paid well, its only a short career for most.

But the game can't go through another super league payment war... because we will loose more than just star players but also clubs..

My 20 cents worth anyway

 

[Simo]

Am I reading it right that, 100k extra to clubs and only increase the cap by 50k?

What the hell will that achieve?

Ok Slater, Inglis and Smith we can now offer you an extra 16.6k a year, that will counter the $1 million offers elesewhere.....

I dont see this changing a single thing, I must be missing something.

 

[jasonstevenswedgie]

amazing how they can find 3mill when they need to, how much more is stashed away?

 

[franklin2323]

Mate I get annoyed when they go but Gasiner, SBW, Sailor, Tuqiri, Tahu, Gower, Hunt even Folau All won Preimerships (except for Gasiner) , Played SOO and for their countries and had nothing else to achieve in the NRL.

If you want to see the world union is the go. Poor domestic comp good international. I would say anyone has starred in another code or have as much exposure for corparate gigs.

I think it's easy to blame the cap for players leaving but the fact is these players are in the top line of player payments and aren't exactly poor.

Any Cap rise should increase minimum wage and expand to 30 players. This way we can increase depth across the comp. The losing players before they get estabilished is more a problem to me then the leading players going.

We aren't exactly struggling for stars ATM. Raise Rep payments and minimum wage

 

[Ike E Bear]

Is this the level of intelligence that bounds about these forums? Not going to say you are dumb, you are not....you just got mixed up.

You got it back to front.....without the stars, our sport is nothing. Personalities are ALWAYS bigger than the game. We do not watch rl to see a ball flying through the air, or flesh hitting flesh....we watch it because CERTAIN PEOPLE are doing those things.

Sport and people, sport and personalities, sport and icons, are all intertwined. But in this chicken or the egg first case, the stars come first.

I can see where you're coming from, but respectfully disagree.

The game creates the stars. The game is the stage.

Sam Burgess is a "star", but prior to his arrival at Souths his existence and the hype around him didn't lead me to watch Super League games. The rare times I watch Super League are primarily out of curiosity to see how many Aussies I can spot. That competition is full of "stars" who I've mostly forgotten existed. Sure, I'm probably not going to forget Matt Gidley thanks to Kurt still running around for the Knights ... but Willie Talau? Ali Lauitiiti? Once removed from the stage of the NRL, these "stars" dim.

When they are gone, new "stars" rise and take their place. Individual teams are undoubtedly negatively impacted when they lose a player like that, but is the Australian team today any less dynamic and exciting than it was five years ago? Would having Sonny Bill Williams dramatically improve New Zealand's chance of success in tonight's Test?

I guess my comments are tempered by an acceptance of the reality that you can't stop poaching altogether. Bigger overseas markets, like European and Japanese Rugby are always going to have more money and if that's what a player is looking for then they are going to go.

I honestly believe that currently the NRL is not getting a fair return for its television rights (based on the money it generates for the broadcasters) and as a flow-on the players aren't getting their fair share ... so I think poaching from Rugby Union and AFL within Australia shouldn't pose as big a risk as it does right now. If the NRL was situated where it should be, Union should have to just about bankrupt itself to steal players. As it stands, I think the AFL raids will be short-lived as I can't imagine Karmichael Hunt or any other convert doing that well - right now I think it's just a gimmick designed to attract media and fan attention for the new franchises. Can you imagine Geelong or St Kilda ever poaching a league player to bolster their teams?

So, since it is impossible to ever completely stop, why do we get our knickers in such a twist over defections to rival codes or overseas? If the basic problems are addressed (better return for television rights and some concessions under the cap for delevoping juniors and retaining long-serving senior players) then who cares who leaves? Especially since there will always be new stars coming through the ranks as long as the game doesn't abandon its grassroots.

You want a scary scenario? A lot of people would love to see Rugby League gain a foothold in America. There are people over there right now working their damnedest to spread the gospel of our awesome game. Sure, you might convert a few Americans into fans that will tune into NRL games that are broadcasted over there ... but for it to really succeed, they'd need teams of their own in a competition of their own, which is exactly what they are trying to do. Imagine if they succeed. Rugby League could be well, well, well done the pecking order of most popular spectator sports in America and the game would still generate tonnes more revenue than the NRL. What would happen if those clubs went scouting in the NRL for talent? It wouldn't just be older players and fringe players looking for a game over there - which is primarily the situation with the UK Super League. One day we might have to watch the Jacksonville Axemen play the New York Knights if we want to see someone like Jarryd Hayne defuse a bomb thrown up by someone like Jonothan Thurston!

The situation as it stands really isn't that bad. I can live without Folau (if he goes). I don't really miss Gasnier or Williams. I'm just as happy to watch Cooper Cronk if Thurston goes too. I just want to be able to watch the Eels and Rabbitohs play every weekend.