Sam Walker and the Roosters salary cap

[Magic Arrow]

I'm starting to get the gist that it's an open secret that the Roosters have a seperate set of books. Sam Walker is literally the hottest thing in Rugby League at the moment and he's off contract for next year. It's been said that the Roosters are pretty much spending the majority of their cap for next year and have very little space.

My problem is that there isn't even a hint that they might have a problem retaining him. No club seems to be interested in even finding out his asking price. It's almost as if clubs know that no matter what they offer this kid he's staying a Rooster. It's open season in the NRL at the moment for halfbacks. There is at least 5 teams who are looking to spend big on the position. From all accounts the Roosters don't have cap room. Why isn't there even a trace of panic? I'm sure the Titans, Tigers, Rabbits, Raiders, Bulldogs, Broncos among others have the space to make a significant offer for him and would love him as their halfback. I'm sick of players "taking paycuts to play for x" bs. Nobody takes significantly less money to play for a team he has no connection to. Why isn't he linked to anyone? It's always the same teams that have players playing for "less money". Roosters and Storm.

They'll use the "Brett Morris money" to keep him even though we've been told they signed there for 200k.

 

[B-Train]

Friend and Cordner will be off the books and medically retired. Both would be on decent money so I'm sure they could use some of that to extend Walker.

It all depends on if Walker wants to play in QLD for Brisbane or the new team and how much they'd offer. If he went to the open market, he could get crazy money from those two clubs.

 

[Dognacious]

If he keeps going the way he has so far the rest of the year, he might be a very expensive player to get, and i dont see us even thinking about it with Flanagan, Averillo and Burton on the books. Roosters would be stupid to let him go. Broncos let him go lol

 

[Magic Arrow]

Friend and Cordner will be off the books and medically retired. Both would be on decent money so I'm sure they could use some of that to extend Walker.

It all depends on if Walker wants to play in QLD for Brisbane or the new team and how much they'd offer. If he went to the open market, he could get crazy money from those two clubs.

They also upgraded Tedesco Keary Verrils for next season. Crichton is off contract. My point is nobody ever seems to interested or there even being a serious threat to them losing a player. Every other top team has to fight to retain talent.

 

[Bulldogz82]

They also upgraded Tedesco Keary Verrils for next season. Crichton is off contract. My point is nobody ever seems to interested or there even being a serious threat to them losing a player. Every other top team has to fight to retain talent.

You rarely see any roosters player linked to other clubs or rumours of clubs chasing anyone unless it's the ones they don't want to keep

 

[Magic Arrow]

You rarely see any roosters player linked to other clubs or rumours of clubs chasing anyone unless it's the ones they don't want to keep

Yep and they never seem to throw figures around either. Like Reynolds has an 800k offer. Did anyone hear Keary, Tedesco, Joey Manu, Victor Radley, etc getting million dollar offers from other club? It's like theyre never linked away and its assumed they'll be stay. All I hear is they'll take less to stay at the Roosters.

This isnt even a recent phenomenom. This is going back 15 years. I can't ever remember them losing a player they wanted to keep other than RTS who left for national pride more than anything. When you have a team keeping everyone it wants for 15+ years somebody has to ask some serious questions. Even the storm lost Widdop and Proctor. Roosters literally lose not a single player they want to keep. Its doesnt make sense in a free marketm

 

[Motorhead]

Good thread. And absolutely spot on. SBW supposedly came back for near-on minimum wage in 2013 didn't he?
It's bullshit, but nothing will change until at least when Politis falls off the perch.

 

[Alan79]

I'm starting to get the gist that it's an open secret that the Roosters have a seperate set of books. Sam Walker is literally the hottest thing in Rugby League at the moment and he's off contract for next year. It's been said that the Roosters are pretty much spending the majority of their cap for next year and have very little space.

My problem is that there isn't even a hint that they might have a problem retaining him. No club seems to be interested in even finding out his asking price. It's almost as if clubs know that no matter what they offer this kid he's staying a Rooster. It's open season in the NRL at the moment for halfbacks. There is at least 5 teams who are looking to spend big on the position. From all accounts the Roosters don't have cap room. Why isn't there even a trace of panic? I'm sure the Titans, Tigers, Rabbits, Raiders, Bulldogs, Broncos among others have the space to make a significant offer for him and would love him as their halfback. I'm sick of players "taking paycuts to play for x" bs. Nobody takes significantly less money to play for a team he has no connection to. Why isn't he linked to anyone? It's always the same teams that have players playing for "less money". Roosters and Storm.

They'll use the "Brett Morris money" to keep him even though we've been told they signed there for 200k.

Well the Roosters players all get magical cars when they arrive there that have glove boxes that produce brown paper bags full of money. So when they take less to play for the Roosters it's because their money under the cap is no match for what their car pays them. And yeah I agree that it sucks balls. If I was in charge of running the salary cap the first thing I'd do is create a rule whereby the biggest offer a player gets from any club sets the value of what others can offer minus about 5%. So if someone sees huge value in a 19yo rookie and offers 700k per season, if a club with only 500k spare under the cap couldn't even make that player an offer unless they're able to offer $665k per season (700k less 5%). This actually gives a player the option of going to a different club of their choosing that needs them, but not to accept an offer $200k less than their market value to play for a club stacked with talent. To make it fairer on the players I'd also give them the option to set the length of the contract so they weren't forced to spend numerous years playing in a location that they hated.

Altering the rules like this would take 5 or so years to balance out the quality. But eventually it would give every club a fair chance to come back to a competitive roster because even if someone was able to cheat the cap, they'd still be having to pay similar wages under the cap to start with.

To bolster this system I'd probably also offer clubs the option to apply a 5% discount under the cap for juniors they'd developed from SG ball through to NRL level. So if you had a player that you've had in the system for numerous years approaching NRL readiness and they got a $700k offer you could offer the same $665k on the cap, but would get a $35k exemption from your cap because you'd developed them from a young age. It would really encourage clubs to spend some money on grass roots football and talent identification and production. At present too many clubs aren't pulling their weight with player development in my opinion and it shows in the fact that we have so many teams that have huge gaps in talent.

 

[Roll the Bones]

I genuinely think there’s been so much salary-cap piss-taking over the last decade that no one gives a flying fuck anymore. We all just accept that some clubs have just done it better than others. I personally don’t care anymore. I just want Storm to beat Panffers.

 

[Alan79]

I genuinely think there’s been so much salary-cap piss-taking over the last decade that no one gives a flying fuck anymore. We all just accept that some clubs have just done it better than others. I personally don’t care anymore. I just want Storm to beat Panffers.

Sadly I care a lot. To see clubs that don't contribute a lot to producing players continually reaping the benefit of clubs that do is sad. I think of a scenario where a club might have struggled for a few years to get a decent half. They search far and wide and find a couple of classy juniors, do everything right with teaching them, then when they come of age those prospects they've nurtured move to some other club for far less money under the cap and brown paper bag treatments when the club that nurtured them has freed up cap space to keep them is a gross injustice.

 

[Motorhead]

I genuinely think there’s been so much salary-cap piss-taking over the last decade that no one gives a flying fuck anymore. We all just accept that some clubs have just done it better than others. I personally don’t care anymore. I just want Storm to beat Panffers.

Yep, we as fans are almost conditioned now to accept that this joke of an organisation is corrupt. And to just shrug our shoulders when some clubs get shockingly preferential treatment over others. Yet the NRL still want us gullible fucken mugs to cough up our hard-earned to watch and support this crap. The fact that certain clubs' aversions to operating within the rules is a running joke both inside and outside of the game says a lot.

 

[Kempsey Dog]

I'm starting to get the gist that it's an open secret that the Roosters have a seperate set of books. Sam Walker is literally the hottest thing in Rugby League at the moment and he's off contract for next year. It's been said that the Roosters are pretty much spending the majority of their cap for next year and have very little space.

My problem is that there isn't even a hint that they might have a problem retaining him. No club seems to be interested in even finding out his asking price. It's almost as if clubs know that no matter what they offer this kid he's staying a Rooster. It's open season in the NRL at the moment for halfbacks. There is at least 5 teams who are looking to spend big on the position. From all accounts the Roosters don't have cap room. Why isn't there even a trace of panic? I'm sure the Titans, Tigers, Rabbits, Raiders, Bulldogs, Broncos among others have the space to make a significant offer for him and would love him as their halfback. I'm sick of players "taking paycuts to play for x" bs. Nobody takes significantly less money to play for a team he has no connection to. Why isn't he linked to anyone? It's always the same teams that have players playing for "less money". Roosters and Storm.

They'll use the "Brett Morris money" to keep him even though we've been told they signed there for 200k.

That's the trick mate. For example sign Teddy and Cronk when your already at cap... Then claim that every other signing after that was with Cronks money etc etc. The flow on effect continues and creates the illusion that they are compliant lol.

 

[Como Dog]

Good thread. And absolutely spot on. SBW supposedly came back for near-on minimum wage in 2013 didn't he?
It's bullshit, but nothing will change until at least when Politis falls off the perch.

Funny you say that, because here we are all these years later and even though he can barely put two words together on tv, Sonny Bill is suddenly a regular on channel 9.

 

[Chris Harding]

Well the Roosters players all get magical cars when they arrive there that have glove boxes that produce brown paper bags full of money. So when they take less to play for the Roosters it's because their money under the cap is no match for what their car pays them. And yeah I agree that it sucks balls. If I was in charge of running the salary cap the first thing I'd do is create a rule whereby the biggest offer a player gets from any club sets the value of what others can offer minus about 5%. So if someone sees huge value in a 19yo rookie and offers 700k per season, if a club with only 500k spare under the cap couldn't even make that player an offer unless they're able to offer $665k per season (700k less 5%). This actually gives a player the option of going to a different club of their choosing that needs them, but not to accept an offer $200k less than their market value to play for a club stacked with talent. To make it fairer on the players I'd also give them the option to set the length of the contract so they weren't forced to spend numerous years playing in a location that they hated.

Altering the rules like this would take 5 or so years to balance out the quality. But eventually it would give every club a fair chance to come back to a competitive roster because even if someone was able to cheat the cap, they'd still be having to pay similar wages under the cap to start with.

To bolster this system I'd probably also offer clubs the option to apply a 5% discount under the cap for juniors they'd developed from SG ball through to NRL level. So if you had a player that you've had in the system for numerous years approaching NRL readiness and they got a $700k offer you could offer the same $665k on the cap, but would get a $35k exemption from your cap because you'd developed them from a young age. It would really encourage clubs to spend some money on grass roots football and talent identification and production. At present too many clubs aren't pulling their weight with player development in my opinion and it shows in the fact that we have so many teams that have huge gaps in talent.

I've heard rumours about betting on rigged "friendly" golf games for easy money.

 

[B-Train]

They also upgraded Tedesco Keary Verrils for next season. Crichton is off contract. My point is nobody ever seems to interested or there even being a serious threat to them losing a player. Every other top team has to fight to retain talent.

I'm definitely not saying all is above board and there's no way in years past their teams would have been under the cap. They're probably not under the cap now. But that's how they're going to justify it to the media and the NRL to make it seem legit..

 

[UndeadShadowMan]

They use undisclosed 3rd party payments to top up players contracts they have been doing this for over 20 years now. It's bullshit everyone in the game knows about it but nothing gets done not one whistleblower comes out because they are scared of Politis. It's makes me sick when the media talk about the Roosters cap like NRL 360 you can see the smug smile on Paul Kents face every time it's discussed.

 

[Kelpie03]

Funny you say that, because here we are all these years later and even though he can barely put two words together on tv, Sonny Bill is suddenly a regular on channel 9.

CH 9 is one of the two networks which keep the game afloat and the Rotters or should I say Politis have them on their side.
Few people realise the power the two networks have on the game, in fact they own and have full control of it.
I believe that its the reason why we're getting all these new rule changes, changes which IMHO have only made the game harder on players bodies which has resulted in an increase in the number of injuries.
What is needed is for the clubs who are sick of this blatant NRL corruption to form a breakaway competition, even if it involves developing a new set of rules which I believe would not be to hard to do. I'm certain that there are people around with the brains capable of developing a much more entertaining and player friendly game.
I'd be certain that some other network like Ch10 would interested in getting the rights to televise the game.

 

[N4TE]

Funny you say that, because here we are all these years later and even though he can barely put two words together on tv, Sonny Bill is suddenly a regular on channel 9.

Hmm one wonders

 

[KambahOne]

SKD, Pearce, Guerra, Moa, Napa, Evans, Ferguson, Matterson, Mitchell, Nikorima, Momirovski, Tetevano, Watson, Flanagan are just some of the players we have let go in the last 5 years. During that time we've add marquee signings Keary, Critchon, Tedesco and Cronk (2yrs). We've added players other clubs didn't want ala the Morris Bros and helped them regain their form and a few fringe players. The rest of our squad has a core group that have been together for a long time and been developed in house - Cordner, Topou, Friend, JWH, Verrills, Manu, Radley, Tauks, Liu, Collins, Butcher, Tupouniua, Ikuvalu, Smith and that includes Sam Walker who has been at the club for over 2 years despite only starting in 2021.

I realise this will fall on deaf ears over cap conspiracies that have never eventuated, but hey, that's the internet.

 

[B-Train]

SKD, Pearce, Guerra, Moa, Napa, Evans, Ferguson, Matterson, Mitchell, Nikorima, Momirovski, Tetevano, Watson, Flanagan are just some of the players we have let go in the last 5 years. During that time we've add marquee signings Keary, Critchon, Tedesco and Cronk (2yrs). We've added players other clubs didn't want ala the Morris Bros and helped them regain their form and a few fringe players. The rest of our squad has a core group that have been together for a long time and been developed in house - Cordner, Topou, Friend, JWH, Verrills, Manu, Radley, Tauks, Liu, Collins, Butcher, Tupouniua, Ikuvalu, Smith and that includes Sam Walker who has been at the club for over 2 years despite only starting in 2021.

I realise this will fall on deaf ears over cap conspiracies that have never eventuated, but hey, that's the internet.

A lot of those players have since been upgraded though and Sualli himself was on a huge amount for a rookie. Even Walker's initial deal wasn't a cheap one and would have been 300k or more as there was a lot of competition from the Dogs and other clubs for him at the time.

I think Walker would be foolish to re-sign before the second Brisbane team is open for business because he could start a bidding war on the open market and earn a lot more than the Roosters could legally pay him. If he re-signs before then, then it's fair enough if the usual questions are asked and eyebrows are raised.