CEO's thrash out salary cap solutions

[waveydavey]

CEO's thrash out salary cap solutions

    * James Hooper
    * From: The Daily Telegraph
    * May 04, 2010 2:15PM

THE most important NRL meeting in 20 years is under way at Moore Park headqarters, where rugby league's heavy hitters are thrashing out fresh alternatives to solve the current salary cap crisis.

Fresh from revelations about the Melbourne Storm systematically rorting the salary cap by $1.85 million over the past five years, today's summit at NRL headquarters in Moore Park was about outlining potential solutions.

In the latest developments outlined in an NRL media release at 3.11pm, all clubs have been given two weeks two submit alternative suggestions to help develop a better system.

Two weeks seems a lengthy amount of time given the magnitude of the current salary cap crisis. Given the nature of the Storm being exposed for systematic rorting, now is not the time for talk. It's the time for answers.

It makes today's meeting look like another meaningless gab-fest.

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Representatives from all 16 clubs were in attendance, with numerous media analysts and experts having offered up a number of intelligent and considered points-of-view to fix the anomalies in the current system.

Read Daily Telegraph Sports Editor-at-large Phil Rothfield's blog on the biggest crisis facing the game since the Super League split the code in 1995 here.

Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, Rothfield suggested a detailed system of rewarding loyalty for players who spend more than five years at the one NRL club.

The NRL released the following statement at 3.11pm:

National Rugby League club Chief Executives today expressed on-going support for the NRL Salary Cap insisting it was an accurate reflection of what clubs can afford to pay.

While there was strong acceptance that all clubs must abide by the rules as they stand, the clubs agreed to provide submissions to the NRL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement Committee to look at areas that can be reviewed in the future.

“The CBA negotiations will invariably lead to discussions on the Salary Cap so it is appropriate that we get a number of views on the table in advance of those discussions,” NRL Chief Executive, Mr David Gallop, said today.

“Given the work involved we have expanded our CBA committee to include five Chief Executives with Steve Burraston and Don Furner joining Shane Richardson, Steve Noyce and Bruno Cullen.

“The clubs agree that the cap has delivered some outstanding benefits for the game in ensuring that clubs are competitive year in and year out.

“It has delivered the most exciting competitions in history and has coincided with an era of record crowds. Significantly, those crowds are up 4.8% again this year.

“There is no doubt that many people do not take the time to look at the concessions that already exist for players to earn more money outside the cap, but certainly we have an opportunity to fine tune things going forward.”

Clubs will be given two weeks to put forward a list of suggestions regarding the cap.

“It is a worthwhile exercise but it is important that people also realise any lifting in the level of concessions means a direct cost to the clubs,” Raiders Chief Executive, Mr Don Furner, said today."

Doesn't sound like they're thrashing anything out at all!!  Same old rhetoric, same old excuses.

I particularly like the same old excuses:

“National Rugby League club Chief Executives today expressed on-going support for the NRL Salary Cap insisting it was an accurate reflection of what clubs can afford to pay.”

“The clubs agree that the cap has delivered some outstanding benefits for the game in ensuring that clubs are competitive year in and year out.”

“It has delivered the most exciting competitions in history and has coincided with an era of record crowds. Significantly, those crowds are up 4.8% again this year.”

“There is no doubt that many people do not take the time to look at the concessions that already exist for players to earn more money outside the cap, but certainly we have an opportunity to fine tune things going forward.”

Does that sound like progress?  Does that sound like Folau will still be in league next year?  Does that sound like Thurston will stay in league?  Does that sound like Smith, Slater, Cronk and Inglis will still be at the storm and in league next year?  Does that sound like the NRL doesn't give a stuff about star players going overseas or to different codes?  I thought it was bad enough that Karmichael Hunt went to rugby and then AFL, but to my mind it's going to get worse, much worse!!!

[storm77]

Think bout this, the average wage in the AFL this year is around $240,000, in league it is around $160,000.

JUST SAYING.

[stormfan]

ch 9 news up here in brisbane just said that the storm WEREN'T at the meeting today. has anyone else heard this?

[Bourbon Rat]

That Telegraph journo could have saved lots of news print & thought by just printing the one thing that came out of that meeting.
Today's meeting was just another meaningless gab-fest.

[Crooner]

What could the storm have offered in way of an opinion,
and how seriosly would they be taken......really!

[LESStar58]

“National Rugby League club Chief Executives today expressed on-going support for the NRL Salary Cap insisting it was an accurate reflection of what clubs can afford to pay.”

“The clubs agree that the cap has delivered some outstanding benefits for the game in ensuring that clubs are competitive year in and year out.”

“It has delivered the most exciting competitions in history and has coincided with an era of record crowds. Significantly, those crowds are up 4.8% again this year.”

Typical towing of the Gallop party line. They are just his excuses being regurgitated by the CEOs of the other 15 clubs. BTW who was our representative during all this?

I do agree with the points that are being made to an extent but THE CAP NEEDS TO BE HIGHER THAN 4.2 MILLION! It's "an indication of how much clubs can afford to pay players" but look around; the players are not happy with what they are getting and what they can earn. How do you intend to meet the player's needs in regards to payment!?!?!?!?!?! The AFL have a 7.9 million dollar cap so they must be doing something right!

For lima lima lima duck's sake it's like a merry-go-round. Come up with ideas to drive your clubs revenue through membership etc and GET A BETTER BROADCAST DEAL. Seems like too many people are more interested in being stuck in a rut rather than campaiging for change.

We as a game will continue to suffer while these automatons run the clubs and the game!

[Bourbon Rat]

What could the storm have offered in way of an opinion,
and how seriosly would they be taken......really!

Since the NRL are claiming that Storm's success is totally a result of being over the cap,(hence the stripping of premierships) I would have thought their input on how it could be restructured & expanded would have some relevance.
That's IF we are talking about making a realistic & workable formula for a salary cap ?
Not just a reworked version of the current "Built down to a price - not up to a standard" model.
Even the ESL has a better version than that 

[Bourbon Rat]

WOW
I've discovered the earth shatteringly important thing that came out of the CEO's meeting.
NRL to look at changing jersey numbers  #-o

Gallop of course invoked the 'magic mirror clause'

"All of that stuff is part of the system used in AFL and cricket and there has been a push for it today and we will go away and look at it," Gallop said.

[absentee]

WOW
I've discovered the earth shatteringly important thing that came out of the CEO's meeting.
NRL to look at changing jersey numbers 

Gallop of course invoked the 'magic mirror clause'

"All of that stuff is part of the system used in AFL and cricket and there has been a push for it today and we will go away and look at it," Gallop said.

I like the idea of individual numbers for each player - but surely we have more important things to think about right now.

[TC]

Noyce said it was time rugby league followed the lead of AFL and cricket teams and allowed fans to buy replica shirts with the name and numbers of their favourite player on the back.

Not like we ever had that.... 

[glennb]

The article in the Daily telegraph says all representatives from 16 clubs were there.  It does not matter what state it is, Channel nine never has anything good to say about Storm.

[Tigger]

Noyce said it was time rugby league followed the lead of AFL and cricket teams and allowed fans to buy replica shirts with the name and numbers of their favourite player on the back.

Not like we ever had that.... 

They stopped doing that to save money 

[CooperCronk]

ch 9 news up here in brisbane just said that the storm WEREN'T at the meeting today. has anyone else heard this?

That's correct, there was no representation by the Storm...does anyone know why.

Foxsport news said they had more than they could handle on their plate at the moment to attend this meeting...me thinks they weren't invited.

[steaming stormer]

Noyce said it was time rugby league followed the lead of AFL and cricket teams and allowed fans to buy replica shirts with the name and numbers of their favourite player on the back.

Not like we ever had that.... 

They stopped doing that to save money 

Yeah, but that was when the numbers still related to position, so every time there was a positional change, a jersey change was required.  The suggestion being put forward would be that the players number wouldn't change.
Isn't that what happened in Super League??

[CaptainKlutz]

ch 9 news up here in brisbane just said that the storm WEREN'T at the meeting today. has anyone else heard this?

That's correct, there was no representation by the Storm...does anyone know why.

Foxsport news said they had more than they could handle on their plate at the moment to attend this meeting...me thinks they weren't invited.

For one who is running the Storm atm.

And anyone who heard the Newcaslte CEO claim that only the Knights and Broncos were not paying to thier limit of the sallary cap knows that this will be a joke.