The case for NRL player salaries to be published

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Vlasnik

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High profile 2018 recruits James Tedesco and Mitchell Pearce.
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by Ben Glover

RUGBY LEAGUE: Former Rabbitohs and Roosters player Jimmy Smith has adamantly declared that all NRL player salaries should be published to stop harmful speculation about where clubs were at with their salary cap.

The Roosters' stunning year of player signings continued this week when they won the battle for Angus Crichton on a three-year deal starting in 2019.

The deal sent social media into overdrive with fans wondering how the Tricolours could successfully lure James Tedesco, Cooper Cronk and Crichton one after the other.

There's a clear perception among rival fans that the Roosters and other powerful clubs are getting away with daylight robbery - working under a "salary sombrero" rather than a cap.

There's plenty of evidence to refute that claim and it clearly frustrates Roosters chairman Nick Politis, who hit back in an interview with Fairfax Media, saying his club just managed their roster better than everyone else.


Cooper Cronk signed with the Roosters on a big money deal.
But the very fact that Politis and others have had to defend unsubstantiated claims caused by a tidal wave of negative public perception is in itself a problem for the NRL.

To stop that perception in its tracks, Smith said on Fox Sports News show Bill & Boz that player salaries should be made public.

"The lack of transparency means the perception is the Roosters are over the cap. They need to be more transparent with the salaries," Smith said.

It's not the first time that call has been made and it won't be the last but it's a change that is unlikely given most players are vigorously opposed to it, preferring to keep their personal information private.

Smith pointed to the fact that government employees and CEOs of publicly listed companies had their salaries available to the public and said while the NRL case was unique, there was a compelling reason for the players to get on board.


The Broncos won the battle for Jack Bird’s signature for 2018. Pic: Brisbane Broncos
"They're operating under a confined salary cap, so it's clear that you have to fit people in, right?" Smith said.
"What's there to fear if you make it transparent?"

Clubs that are well managed would clearly have the most to gain in a system where player salaries were made public.

There would be nowhere to hide for recruitment managers who overvalue players, giving fans the opportunity to judge for themselves which players were value for money and which players were not.

Equally, questions would be asked of clubs when a big name player was recruited on a bargain price.

Given players from some clubs have better access to third-party agreements than others, a system where salaries were published would help to shed light on the controversial mechanism that has got Parramatta and Manly in hot water over the past 18 months.

However, Smith also questioned the objective of a salary cap when there is no limit on TPAs.

"Why have a salary cap when you've got unlimited third parties?" Smith asked.

"How many third parties do the Brisbane Broncos have compared with the Canterbury Bulldogs, compared with the Cronulla Sharks?"

Only the NRL can accurately answer that question, with all TPAs required to be lodged with the governing body.

While that is the case and NRL fans are kept in the dark, the Roosters will continue to suffer from the negative perception that goes hand-in-hand with being the destination of the stars.

https://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/former-nrl-player-jimmy-smith-argues-for-public-sa/3296563/
 

Vlasnik

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The shitty old tricolours are forever lying through their teeth and Nick Politis claiming that his club just managed their roster better than everyone else can go F@CK himself !!! Lying ****!!! It's easy to claim such BULLSHIT when you have the NRL and the so called media in your back pocket. Fuck you Nick!!!
 

chisdog

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High profile 2018 recruits James Tedesco and Mitchell Pearce.
USE THIS CONTENT

by Ben Glover

RUGBY LEAGUE: Former Rabbitohs and Roosters player Jimmy Smith has adamantly declared that all NRL player salaries should be published to stop harmful speculation about where clubs were at with their salary cap.

The Roosters' stunning year of player signings continued this week when they won the battle for Angus Crichton on a three-year deal starting in 2019.

The deal sent social media into overdrive with fans wondering how the Tricolours could successfully lure James Tedesco, Cooper Cronk and Crichton one after the other.

There's a clear perception among rival fans that the Roosters and other powerful clubs are getting away with daylight robbery - working under a "salary sombrero" rather than a cap.

There's plenty of evidence to refute that claim and it clearly frustrates Roosters chairman Nick Politis, who hit back in an interview with Fairfax Media, saying his club just managed their roster better than everyone else.


Cooper Cronk signed with the Roosters on a big money deal.
But the very fact that Politis and others have had to defend unsubstantiated claims caused by a tidal wave of negative public perception is in itself a problem for the NRL.

To stop that perception in its tracks, Smith said on Fox Sports News show Bill & Boz that player salaries should be made public.

"The lack of transparency means the perception is the Roosters are over the cap. They need to be more transparent with the salaries," Smith said.

It's not the first time that call has been made and it won't be the last but it's a change that is unlikely given most players are vigorously opposed to it, preferring to keep their personal information private.

Smith pointed to the fact that government employees and CEOs of publicly listed companies had their salaries available to the public and said while the NRL case was unique, there was a compelling reason for the players to get on board.


The Broncos won the battle for Jack Bird’s signature for 2018. Pic: Brisbane Broncos
"They're operating under a confined salary cap, so it's clear that you have to fit people in, right?" Smith said.
"What's there to fear if you make it transparent?"

Clubs that are well managed would clearly have the most to gain in a system where player salaries were made public.

There would be nowhere to hide for recruitment managers who overvalue players, giving fans the opportunity to judge for themselves which players were value for money and which players were not.

Equally, questions would be asked of clubs when a big name player was recruited on a bargain price.

Given players from some clubs have better access to third-party agreements than others, a system where salaries were published would help to shed light on the controversial mechanism that has got Parramatta and Manly in hot water over the past 18 months.

However, Smith also questioned the objective of a salary cap when there is no limit on TPAs.

"Why have a salary cap when you've got unlimited third parties?" Smith asked.

"How many third parties do the Brisbane Broncos have compared with the Canterbury Bulldogs, compared with the Cronulla Sharks?"

Only the NRL can accurately answer that question, with all TPAs required to be lodged with the governing body.

While that is the case and NRL fans are kept in the dark, the Roosters will continue to suffer from the negative perception that goes hand-in-hand with being the destination of the stars.

https://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/former-nrl-player-jimmy-smith-argues-for-public-sa/3296563/

There's a clear perception among rival fans that the Roosters and other powerful clubs are getting away with daylight robbery - working under a "salary sombrero" rather than a cap.

There's plenty of evidence to refute that claim


And yet no evidence is provided!

"Why have a salary cap when you've got unlimited third parties?" Smith asked.

Good question!
 

coach

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Yup TPA have cooked the nrl! When they say transparency for Salarys to fans, does that include TPA?
Will we see what the club "gives" them and what they receive from elsewhere!
 

Oatley Dog

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Yup TPA have cooked the nrl! When they say transparency for Salarys to fans, does that include TPA?
Will we see what the club "gives" them and what they receive from elsewhere!
No it wouldn't include the TPA's as they are technically an arrangement between the player and the company for non-playing activities. Still, if the actual salary cap amounts are published it would make a significant part of the puzzle a little less confusing. Imagine if it turns out that Cronk is on $300k in the salary cap with whatever else he gets being in TPA's, yet say Moylan is on $700k in the cap plus whatever in TPA's. Would make the whole club management thing stand out a little clearer wouldn't it. It might even explain how we got so twisted with ours.
 

Trafford10

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Yes, yes & yes.
Nobody and I mean nobody has confidence in the NRL salary cap!
Would the majority of clubs support making public player salaries?
 

Oatley Dog

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Yes, yes & yes.
Nobody and I mean nobody has confidence in the NRL salary cap!
Would the majority of clubs support making public player salaries?
I doubt they would as it would expose their decision making and negotiating capacity to the managers and other clubs, but the bottom line is it is something that the NRL has to enforce and if all the clubs are in the same boat at least there won't be an argument for favouritism for one club or another as they will all be in the same boat.
 

Rodzilla

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remove the salary cap and let everyone compete naturally

the salary cap is just a negotiation tool anyway so that non players get the money instead
 

Oatley Dog

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remove the salary cap and let everyone compete naturally

the salary cap is just a negotiation tool anyway so that non players get the money instead
It's a bit more than that. With the cap we would go down to maybe 4 teams. It is a means of keeping the spread of talent at least reasonable so there is some form of competition. The last thing you want is an EPL comp where the winners are known before the season starts and you just waste your time getting there.
 

Rodzilla

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It's a bit more than that. With the cap we would go down to maybe 4 teams. It is a means of keeping the spread of talent at least reasonable so there is some form of competition. The last thing you want is an EPL comp where the winners are known before the season starts and you just waste your time getting there.
how about no salary cap MLB where 12 different winners since year 2000 and the big money team the yankees have only won it once since then possibly because they get stuck with overrated superstar players who are comfortable playing against angry players who want to get paid
 

CrittaMagic69

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It's a bit more than that. With the cap we would go down to maybe 4 teams. It is a means of keeping the spread of talent at least reasonable so there is some form of competition. The last thing you want is an EPL comp where the winners are known before the season starts and you just waste your time getting there.
The EPL is the most popular league in the world.
 

Oatley Dog

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how about no salary cap MLB where 12 different winners since year 2000 and the big money team the yankees have only won it once since then possibly because they get stuck with overrated superstar players who are comfortable playing against angry players who want to get paid
Except they have had a private ownership model for a century. Each team is valued at around a billion dollars whereas NRL clubs struggle with $10m and are in the main owned by the members. Are you suggesting you would be happy for some plonker from the middle east to buy our team put all his people in the top positions, buy and sell the players to suit his views? How about he relocates the Dogs to say Darwin because he likes the sunshine? MLB doesn't have a junior league and doesn't care for one.
 

Oatley Dog

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The EPL is the most popular league in the world.
Well it's soccer and some people like that game and good for them but that isn't the point is it. The point is that there are only 4 teams every year that stand any sort of chance of winning the league and it is based on billions of dollars of purchases and trades. Every team runs at a loss despite hundreds of millions in income. It is only Russian oil and gas that keeps the league running. There are something like 30 teams in that league with another 30 vying for promotion/relegation under them. That is nothing like the NRL.
 

Rodzilla

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Well it's soccer and some people like that game and good for them but that isn't the point is it. The point is that there are only 4 teams every year that stand any sort of chance of winning the league and it is based on billions of dollars of purchases and trades. Every team runs at a loss despite hundreds of millions in income. It is only Russian oil and gas that keeps the league running. There are something like 30 teams in that league with another 30 vying for promotion/relegation under them. That is nothing like the NRL.
so why are you the one bringing it up then

are you happy with a situation of some teams obeying the salary cap and some others not, worse case scenario what if a team cheats and wins multiple titles then they found out years later and it basically wiped out a few years of the competition from the history books because you had to put a big asterisk next to those seasons, i know thats a long shot from happening but its feasible
 

CrittaMagic69

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Well it's soccer and some people like that game and good for them but that isn't the point is it. The point is that there are only 4 teams every year that stand any sort of chance of winning the league and it is based on billions of dollars of purchases and trades. Every team runs at a loss despite hundreds of millions in income. It is only Russian oil and gas that keeps the league running. There are something like 30 teams in that league with another 30 vying for promotion/relegation under them. That is nothing like the NRL.
You're the one that compared the codes first.
 

Oatley Dog

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so why are you the one bringing it up then

are you happy with a situation of some teams obeying the salary cap and some others not, worse case scenario what if a team cheats and wins multiple titles then they found out years later and it basically wiped out a few years of the competition from the history books because you had to put a big asterisk next to those seasons, i know thats a long shot from happening but its feasible
Perhaps you should read it all before having a crack. I was responding to the proposition that getting rid of the salary cap in the NRL would make for a better comp. It doesn't work in other sports like EPL which was my only reference to the stupid game. This was a discussion about the salary cap not bloody soccer.
 

flamebouyant

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No it wouldn't include the TPA's as they are technically an arrangement between the player and the company for non-playing activities. Still, if the actual salary cap amounts are published it would make a significant part of the puzzle a little less confusing. Imagine if it turns out that Cronk is on $300k in the salary cap with whatever else he gets being in TPA's, yet say Moylan is on $700k in the cap plus whatever in TPA's. Would make the whole club management thing stand out a little clearer wouldn't it. It might even explain how we got so twisted with ours.
I cant really see any reason why they shouldnt make their salaries public knowledge. Sure its a bit of an invasion of their privacy, but the media always specilate and so do we, so its not as if we dont have a rough idea anyway.
However the benefits far outwigh the negatives. Im agine if you could log onto a site and see that the roosters, sorry, rorters are at 90% of their cap and then sign cronk then you know somethings fishy. You could also see that they were actually way over until they released pearce. Which in my mind is also blatant cheating. Especially given pearce was under contract.
 

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You're the one that compared the codes first.
Really? I thought I was making the point that just getting rid of the salary cap wouldn't work in the NRL. Yes, I made the comment that the EPL doesn't have a salary cap and it is running at a loss across the board and is propped up by questionable sources from the eastern bloc. Is that really what we want here? One sheik or oligarch or another owning every club in the NRL? We have a community ownership model over here and a small community. That means we have to have controls over expenditure otherwise teams go under the TV rights fall through the floor and the game collapses back to a Sunday afternoon at shitholes like Leichhardt and Brookvale. Most of the complainers on here don't even stump up any cash for the club through memberships yet they are the most indignant about everything. I care enough to spend a couple of thousand on memberships alone. Maybe I'm lucky, maybe I'm crazy I don't really care but at least I'm invested.
 

flamebouyant

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I doubt they would as it would expose their decision making and negotiating capacity to the managers and other clubs, but the bottom line is it is something that the NRL has to enforce and if all the clubs are in the same boat at least there won't be an argument for favouritism for one club or another as they will all be in the same boat.
This could also be a good thing for players in a way because you would know exactly how much money a club has to sign you. Therefore you may not be wanting to break a contract to make more money. A la maloney. TPAs need to go alltogether or be capped though. 100%.
 
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