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http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...-need-not-be-poor-cousins-20120917-262oo.html
If the ARL Commission was prepared to pay $1.5 million for AFL deputy Gillon McLachlan to become chief executive, how much are the game's biggest stars worth? Not just those playing in the NRL now, but others who could be enticed from rival codes.
A CEO doesn't put bums on seats or inspire kids to play the game, but Buddy Franklin playing for the Storm would - especially in Melbourne. Imagine the interest next season if Penrith signed Kurtley Beale, Wests Tigers lured Kieren Jack from the Sydney Swans, the Warriors poached All Blacks fullback Israel Dagg and the Broncos snared Quade Cooper.
Sonny Bill Williams's return to NRL sparked a season-long campaign by the Bulldogs to host the Roosters in the first round but the Kiwi superstar won't get an extra cent for helping fill ANZ Stadium.
In AFL, players with drawing power have a ''marketing'' component of their contract paid by the code's governing body, while each club is allowed a salary cap exemption to sign one player from another sport. It is why GWS's Israel Folau and Tom Scully, Gold Coast Suns pair Karmichael Hunt and Gary Ablett and Carlton captain Chris Judd are all paid $1 million-plus.
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While there has been criticism of Folau's performances, the Herald reported last Saturday three in every four numbered Giants jerseys sold have his No.4 on the back. According to estimates in the same article, Folau earns $1.5 million, Scully is paid $1.8 million, Ablett receives $1.7 million and Hunt and Judd are on $1 million.
Unfortunately, details of player contracts are not public as they are in the US - which shows kids what they can aspire to and reduces salary cap cheating - but there is no doubt NRL stars are the poor cousins of Australian football.
At a time when the A-League is trumpeting Sydney FC's signing of Italian star Alessandro Del Piero on a two-year deal worth $4 million, NRL headlines are focused on the race between Greg Inglis and Johnathan Thurston to become the code's first $1 million player.
Surely after the ARLC's new $1 billion broadcast deal, to be topped up by a further $200 million from New Zealand rights, players should be earning more. After all, the deal equates to $240 million a year, a tripling of the $500 million, six-year deal that expires at the end of this season.
In comparison, the salary cap is set to rise from $4.3 million to $5 million next season, with speculation it could increase to $6 million in 2014 and up to $7.2 million by the end of the five-year rights deal. That is a 60 per cent increase, meaning Inglis and Thurston could expect to earn little more than $1.1 million in 2017 if their $700,000-per-season contracts were to rise by the same percentage. Yet at the same time, the ARLC is believed to have been prepared to more than double the salary of the chief executive from David Gallop's $700,000 to lure McLaughlin from the AFL.
Such a move would put the ARLC at odds with most major sporting competitions around the world such as the NFL, NBA and Premier League, where administrators earn far less than the stars.
The ARLC would be better served by encouraging clubs to raid the ranks of AFL and rugby through a similar salary cap exemption that last month prompted West Coast to consider recruiting Australian Boomer Mark Worthington.
Folau, Hunt, Setanta O'hAilpin (hurling), Lachlan Keeffe (football) and Mark Blicavs (athletics) were all recruited under the rule that allows clubs to sign athletes outside the salary cap if they have not played in any AFL-affiliated competition for more than three years.
Cashed up from the new broadcast deal, the ARLC could not only hit back at AFL but potentially decimate rugby union by introducing such a rule because the likes of Beale, Cooper, James O'Connor and Berrick Barnes all have league backgrounds and are known to be keen to play in the NRL.
A possible list of recruits for each club from rival codes would be:
❏ Lance Franklin (Storm): Big, athletic Hawthorn forward who has been compared with Jamal Idris.
❏ Quade Cooper (Broncos): Wallabies five-eighth with Benji Marshall-type skills.
❏ Israel Folau (Eels): Former Storm and Broncos star who grew up alongside Jarryd Hayne.
❏ Kurtley Beale (Panthers): Wallabies fullback and former Souths junior raised in Penrith.
❏ Kieren Jack (Tigers): Son of Balmain's Garry and a league junior.
❏ Digby Ioane (Titans): Wallabies winger who came through the Melbourne Storm junior ranks.
❏ Karmichael Hunt (Knights): Played under Wayne Bennett at the Broncos before becoming first NRL star to switch to AFL.
❏ Berrick Barnes (Cowboys): Only left the Broncos to bide his time until Darren Lockyer retired but became a Wallabies star.
❏ Israel Dagg (Warriors): All Blacks fullback who has become New Zealand's latest pin-up boy.
❏ James O'Connor (Dragons): Electrifying Wallabies back who would be ideally suited to the NRL.
❏ Liam Messam (Rabbitohs): All Blacks forward who attracted interest from Wests Tigers and considered similar to Glenn Stewart.
❏ David Pocock (Raiders): Wallabies captain and the only forward likely to make the transition.
❏ Owen Farrell (Sea Eagles): Son of former Wigan captain Andy plays rugby in the centres for England.
❏ Rene Ranger (Bulldogs): Blues winger whose strength and speed make him prime for a switch.
❏ Chris Ashton (Sharks): Prolific try-scorer for England rugby who began at fullback with Wigan.
❏ Sonny Bill Williams
(Roosters): Will return to the NRL next season after proving to be one of the best forwards in world rugby
If the ARL Commission was prepared to pay $1.5 million for AFL deputy Gillon McLachlan to become chief executive, how much are the game's biggest stars worth? Not just those playing in the NRL now, but others who could be enticed from rival codes.
A CEO doesn't put bums on seats or inspire kids to play the game, but Buddy Franklin playing for the Storm would - especially in Melbourne. Imagine the interest next season if Penrith signed Kurtley Beale, Wests Tigers lured Kieren Jack from the Sydney Swans, the Warriors poached All Blacks fullback Israel Dagg and the Broncos snared Quade Cooper.
Sonny Bill Williams's return to NRL sparked a season-long campaign by the Bulldogs to host the Roosters in the first round but the Kiwi superstar won't get an extra cent for helping fill ANZ Stadium.
In AFL, players with drawing power have a ''marketing'' component of their contract paid by the code's governing body, while each club is allowed a salary cap exemption to sign one player from another sport. It is why GWS's Israel Folau and Tom Scully, Gold Coast Suns pair Karmichael Hunt and Gary Ablett and Carlton captain Chris Judd are all paid $1 million-plus.
Advertisement
While there has been criticism of Folau's performances, the Herald reported last Saturday three in every four numbered Giants jerseys sold have his No.4 on the back. According to estimates in the same article, Folau earns $1.5 million, Scully is paid $1.8 million, Ablett receives $1.7 million and Hunt and Judd are on $1 million.
Unfortunately, details of player contracts are not public as they are in the US - which shows kids what they can aspire to and reduces salary cap cheating - but there is no doubt NRL stars are the poor cousins of Australian football.
At a time when the A-League is trumpeting Sydney FC's signing of Italian star Alessandro Del Piero on a two-year deal worth $4 million, NRL headlines are focused on the race between Greg Inglis and Johnathan Thurston to become the code's first $1 million player.
Surely after the ARLC's new $1 billion broadcast deal, to be topped up by a further $200 million from New Zealand rights, players should be earning more. After all, the deal equates to $240 million a year, a tripling of the $500 million, six-year deal that expires at the end of this season.
In comparison, the salary cap is set to rise from $4.3 million to $5 million next season, with speculation it could increase to $6 million in 2014 and up to $7.2 million by the end of the five-year rights deal. That is a 60 per cent increase, meaning Inglis and Thurston could expect to earn little more than $1.1 million in 2017 if their $700,000-per-season contracts were to rise by the same percentage. Yet at the same time, the ARLC is believed to have been prepared to more than double the salary of the chief executive from David Gallop's $700,000 to lure McLaughlin from the AFL.
Such a move would put the ARLC at odds with most major sporting competitions around the world such as the NFL, NBA and Premier League, where administrators earn far less than the stars.
The ARLC would be better served by encouraging clubs to raid the ranks of AFL and rugby through a similar salary cap exemption that last month prompted West Coast to consider recruiting Australian Boomer Mark Worthington.
Folau, Hunt, Setanta O'hAilpin (hurling), Lachlan Keeffe (football) and Mark Blicavs (athletics) were all recruited under the rule that allows clubs to sign athletes outside the salary cap if they have not played in any AFL-affiliated competition for more than three years.
Cashed up from the new broadcast deal, the ARLC could not only hit back at AFL but potentially decimate rugby union by introducing such a rule because the likes of Beale, Cooper, James O'Connor and Berrick Barnes all have league backgrounds and are known to be keen to play in the NRL.
A possible list of recruits for each club from rival codes would be:
❏ Lance Franklin (Storm): Big, athletic Hawthorn forward who has been compared with Jamal Idris.
❏ Quade Cooper (Broncos): Wallabies five-eighth with Benji Marshall-type skills.
❏ Israel Folau (Eels): Former Storm and Broncos star who grew up alongside Jarryd Hayne.
❏ Kurtley Beale (Panthers): Wallabies fullback and former Souths junior raised in Penrith.
❏ Kieren Jack (Tigers): Son of Balmain's Garry and a league junior.
❏ Digby Ioane (Titans): Wallabies winger who came through the Melbourne Storm junior ranks.
❏ Karmichael Hunt (Knights): Played under Wayne Bennett at the Broncos before becoming first NRL star to switch to AFL.
❏ Berrick Barnes (Cowboys): Only left the Broncos to bide his time until Darren Lockyer retired but became a Wallabies star.
❏ Israel Dagg (Warriors): All Blacks fullback who has become New Zealand's latest pin-up boy.
❏ James O'Connor (Dragons): Electrifying Wallabies back who would be ideally suited to the NRL.
❏ Liam Messam (Rabbitohs): All Blacks forward who attracted interest from Wests Tigers and considered similar to Glenn Stewart.
❏ David Pocock (Raiders): Wallabies captain and the only forward likely to make the transition.
❏ Owen Farrell (Sea Eagles): Son of former Wigan captain Andy plays rugby in the centres for England.
❏ Rene Ranger (Bulldogs): Blues winger whose strength and speed make him prime for a switch.
❏ Chris Ashton (Sharks): Prolific try-scorer for England rugby who began at fullback with Wigan.
❏ Sonny Bill Williams
(Roosters): Will return to the NRL next season after proving to be one of the best forwards in world rugby
