the nrl needs to stand up and fight

[nqcowboy87]

with talk of 'gaz' going to the rah rahs leading to talk of willie tonga and maybe even hunt going, the nrl needs to stand up and fight, matt giteaou is one of the aru's prize possesionsand if we got him, it would really shake things up. maybe also, just maybe if gasnier does want to dishonour his name by going to union we could swap him for lote tuqiri. just a thought. also theyre needs to be a type of thing where once somebody has played state of origin or for australia they can only get some of they're wages in a trust fund account qat the end of the careers(its only a suggestion feel free to comment or add yours)

 

[elidecelis]

To star with, Giteau will be getting around 600K pa from the ARU + Test match payments of 12K per game and next year being a World Cup year, there will be around 15 Tests. which club is going to spend that sort of money on an untested Rugby Union player? The only way it could happen is if the NRL got together with its partners like 9 and Telstra and tried to do something.

 

[wittyfan]

They should try and poach Drew Mitchell as well.

 

[Thomas]

There is no way that Giteau would switch to RL, not with the RWC next year...and probably not after that.

He's coming off contract this year and has said that RL is not an option.

 

[taipan]

I think if the NRL lose a couple more player,the salary cap will be lifted a hell of a lot,and 3rd party agreements will be more flexible.The NRL cant sit on their bums,and say we are not going to enter into a bidding war.Fair enough,but at least make union pay over the odds.
its got to sink in to the NRL heads,that many spectators go to live games,to watch the stars in action.No stars little action.
This is an opportunity for the NRL to push harder to get rugby league ,into non rugby league schools now.The codes are both pro,therefore the old tradition garbage, is now out the window.

 

[Thomas]

Oh and Witty...just for you.

And here's one with Dan Carter in it as well........thought you'd like it.

 

[wittyfan]

Ahhh, thanks Thomas.

 

[Mr_Ugly]

theyre needs to be a type of thing where once somebody has played state of origin or for australia they can only get some of they're wages in a trust fund account qat the end of the careers(its only a suggestion feel free to comment or add yours)

Don't they already do that?

 

[BuffaloRules]

I believe that if an NRL club coaxes a big name Union player ( Wallaby, All Black, ), then this players salary should not count towards the salary cap of that club for say the first two years..( or a sliding scale percentage like 20% first year, 40% next year etc...)
This will mean that the clubs with excess cash can spend it, whilst maintaining an overall salary cap, and at the very least, forcing up the amount that the ARU has to pay their star players, the same way that Union forces up the prices of NRL stars..

We shouldn't be panicked into dumping the salary cap though... the Union know that we have a very evenly balanced competition, and if we got rid of the cap, this would be playing into their hands...

 

[God-King Dean]

The NRL administrators are pussies

 

[DJ1]

Let them go.

They are only destroying their own grass roots.

 

[God-King Dean]

Let them go.

They are only destroying their own grass roots.

Who are ?

 

[hutch]

out of all the mentioned players, gasnier is the only one who has actually said it is something he would consider. the other players havnt even mentioned the issue, their managers have said they are open to offers. im sure they are open to offers from anything such as english super league to the nfl. why wouldnt they, they are among the worlds elite athletes. of course the managers are open to offers, they are making money off the players!

i hope none of them go, we all say they are hundreds of juniors willing to step up which is probably true, but i dont want the aru getting any more publicity than they deserve (which is a small column on the side of the page). all of these players would walk into the union national team.

if the nrl did get involved in a bidding war, they would win, as they have more money than the aru, but they have never really got involved in any negotiations before apart from johns. money shouldnt be the only factor, the players should want to stay in rugby league. they have the nrl, origin, tri nations and the 08 world cup to look forward to.

i dont think the nrl will get involved, i think the clubs will sign these players up. little bit worried about gasnier, but time will tell.

 

[Steelers4eva]

with talk of 'gaz' going to the rah rahs leading to talk of willie tonga and maybe even hunt going, the nrl needs to stand up and fight, matt giteaou is one of the aru's prize possesionsand if we got him, it would really shake things up. maybe also, just maybe if gasnier does want to dishonour his name by going to union we could swap him for lote tuqiri. just a thought. also theyre needs to be a type of thing where once somebody has played state of origin or for australia they can only get some of they're wages in a trust fund account qat the end of the careers(its only a suggestion feel free to comment or add yours)

I agree with that line of thought nqcowboy. Perhaps the NRL could look at claiming a certain percentage of each players contract in a loyalty fund payable at a certain age (say 30). If the player stays loyal to the NRL then the money is paid back with an appropriate amount of interest. If they switch codes, or nick off to ESL then the loyalty money is forfeited and dispersed throughout the junior leagues and bush comps.

 

[lockyno1]

Basically what the NRL needs to do is have a tier 1, tier 2, tier 3 cap. So in other words tier 1 contains Australian/SOO/NZ/GB internationals. In this tier only 50% of the actual salary is included in the cap. Tier 2 contains country reps/city reps/young player of the year from the previous year, 75% contained under the cap, tier 3 is 100% and makes up the rest of the squad. Therefore if the Dragons offer Gasnier $900,000 to stay only $450,000 would be under the cap. I think that is one way to battle with rugby union.

 

[Woods99]

Basically what the NRL needs to do is have a tier 1, tier 2, tier 3 cap. So in other words tier 1 contains Australian/SOO/NZ/GB internationals. In this tier only 50% of the actual salary is included in the cap. Tier 2 contains country reps/city reps/young player of the year from the previous year, 75% contained under the cap, tier 3 is 100% and makes up the rest of the squad. Therefore if the Dragons offer Gasnier $900,000 to stay only $450,000 would be under the cap. I think that is one way to battle with rugby union.

One of the great strengths of the NRL is that the competition is so even. A number of the clubs are on a financial knife-edge, apparently, especially with the coming increase in the poker machine tax.

Any change to the salary cap arrangements would either destroy the level playing field (by allowing the rich clubs to attract/retain the best players), or would drive the weaker clubs out of existence.

Let the free market prevail.

 

[Alex28]

Rather than rewarding the potential traitors and having every player come to the NRL saying "I'm off to Union, give me more money", I suggest the game bans any player that leaves the NRL to play Union from coming back to the fold if they are not a success (I just don't know how this would work with restraint of trade, discrimination and the like is all).

What the players need to realise is that not all of them will make the Wallabies and make all the money that is being suggested to them. I mean look at all the backs the Wallabies have at their disposal - it's debatable whether Gasnier will even make the Wallabies squad given they have a glut of Centres at their disposal.

Hunt isn't good enough to make the Wallabies (I doubt he's good enough for QLD Origin let alone the Kangaroos), Minichiello wont get in front of Latham or Mitchell or Rogers at Fullback, I guess Tonga would go to the All Blacks? It's even more unlikely he'd get a run over there as well.

The players need to be told that if they are going to Union, there is no future for them back here and that they burn a bridge on the way over rather than using it as a bargaining tool to screw more money out of the game for themselves.

League will survive without these guys.

 

[Special K]

I'd like for the NRL to step in and bring across players and give them to certain clubs in need. Working out those in need would be a issue however... If there was a draft perhaps it might be easier.

At this rate, union will be offering players the big bucks just to go on end of season tours and stay at their NRL club during the year. They have nothing...

 

[Glenn]

Player bans wouldn't be the answer, not to mention no doubt illegal.
The number of top line players the ARU is taking is insignificant, this is just more talk by the vultures known as player managers.
The number of players lost to the ARU, or ESL would be a handful at the most and more than that coming through the ranks

 

[taipan]

One of the great strengths of the NRL is that the competition is so even. A number of the clubs are on a financial knife-edge, apparently, especially with the coming increase in the poker machine tax.

Any change to the salary cap arrangements would either destroy the level playing field (by allowing the rich clubs to attract/retain the best players), or would drive the weaker clubs out of existence.

Let the free market prevail.

The only clubs on a knife edge because of the poker machine tax are the West Tigers and possibly the Sharks(the latter will provided the local council gives it the go ahead for the huge development )be self sufficient.You can take Souths now privatised and Newcastle off the endangered list.
Bear in mind the Gold Coast Titans (with a big business backed money account)are still looking for top line players for 2007 and Souths now have funds to use up to their salary cap limit,which were not available before). Offsetting to a degree reliance on poker machine monies is an increase in NRL grants to all NRL clubs.
Salary caps should remain,but long service and local juniors should get a bigger allowance.
The NRL may well lose one or two to union,however the money not used to top up these players,is better used in the bush and developing quality juniors,which is something union appears to have difficulty in producing in decent numbers.