R.I.P. 30th June deadline

[Blitzkrieg]

For those who've not heard, the NRL has finally bitten the bullet & killed of the 30th June anti tampering deadline.  And as the article below (from Fox Sports & The Daily Telegraph) says, so they should - it was totally pointless & impossible to enforce.

But I still remain baffled as to why the NRL can't take a leaf out of the AFL's book & shift the deadline to season's end 

Rule change a mercy killing
Comment by Ray Chesterton
June 21, 2006

REALITY has finally dawned and the NRL has rescinded the unenforceable anti-tampering law.

It has long been as violated as a new Mercedes left abandoned at 3am on a dark street in a dodgy neighbourhood with the doors open and the engine running.

Anti-tampering was never a rule at all. It was a farce. A travesty of a good idea that became so warped and malleable by selfish clubs that it was irrelevant.

There is no purpose to a rule that cannot be enforced. Thankfully the NRL has realised that.

A genuine anti-tampering concept is still vitally needed.

It would inject sanity and order into player movement and offer a degree of control over what otherwise will be season-long chaos.

But the game's servants, the clubs and CEOs, blatantly resisted any attempt at discipline because of self-interest.

In the final throes of its life, the anti-tampering rule was so out of control and so diluted it could be pushed around like a schoolboy being bullied out of his lunch money.

Clubs and player-managers countered the productivity and restraint of the rule by rendering it impotent.

Although players coming off a contract with a club could not talk with another club until after the June 30 deadline, their managers could.

It may shatter the wholesome image of gentlemanly behaviour we have of player-managers but most ignored the rule.

They privately negotiated the best deal and publicly announced the contract on July 1 as if it had been done overnight.

It was illegal but uncontestable by the NRL, which has never levelled a charge of anti-tampering.

It simply had to squirm with embarrassment as every July 1 brought announcements of speedy player movement that mocked logic.

The game will be less preposterous with the anti-tampering rule gone.

There will be fewer lies told by players, clubs and managers.

The game will also not come to an end but it will again be seared by headlines and speculation in 2007 about which player is going where in 2008.

It will distract players and disappoint supporters.

And who is to blame? The clubs of course. They have again savaged and rendered useless a rule that was introduced to protect them.

[PD]

But I still remain baffled as to why the NRL can't take a leaf out of the AFL's book & shift the deadline to season's end  Huh

Because the players association don't want it there.They see it as removing some of their bargaining power.

[lotti]

looks like one Waldron whinge got through.

[Stormwarning[c]]

There's been more than one of Waldrons that would have got through by now

I wouldn't mind a trade period to be introduced along the lines of the English premier league. This I think would relay fears from the players and their managers, the fans and the clubs.

The old story of having to relocate at such a short notice after the season doesn't wash any more. The amount of money players are being paid and the system most clubs seem to have in place regarding new signings pretty much wipes out that pathetic argument from the players managers.