Salary Cap. Why is there one ?

[GA45]

Just wondering why the players union would agree to a salary cap. Players if they are lucky play 10 seasons of NRL they should be able to earn as much money as possible for their career. So why is a cap in place ?

 

[Raysie]

I guess the cap also forces in place rules such as a high minimum wage for players, which I'd think would be a big selling point.

 

[Shanked]

because I would imagine they would have to give up something pretty substancial

 

[Spoonman84]

It’s only there to make the poor clubs like Dragons, Manly and Tigers remain competitive. Otherwise it would be like the Premier League where you only have the same 3-4 teams being a realistic chance of winning the title.

 

[Heckler]

So clubs with rich leagues clubs like us dont win comps often.

 

[Raysie]

Question was why the players union supports a cap, rather than why we have it. I think the reason why is self explanatory.

 

[jpneves]

It’s only there to make the poor clubs like Dragons, Manly and Tigers remain competitive. Otherwise it would be like the Premier League where you only have the same 3-4 teams being a realistic chance of winning the title.

Exactly and also for clubs like Manly, Tigers etc to not go broke. After superleague a lot of ARL clubs needed some ‘bailing out help’ from the NRL after paying massive overs! If there was no cap Brisbane would have an even bigger advantage then now. Living in Canberra I know the raiders struggle big time to attract players here and they wouldn’t be able to compete with Sydney clubs offering even more

 

[The DoggFather]

A salary cap is a literal example of communism.

 

[GrogDog]

Probably because the cap was in before the players union was formed so it's a rule that was already in place. It allows the NRL to choose which clubs can win based on who they check (Dogs) and who they turn a blind eye to (Rorters).

 

[GA45]

I realise it’s there to protect poor clubs but why would the players want it. If the tigers fell over because of poor player payment management this day and age a billionaire would just start up another club at central coast or another booming population area. The players only get a few years at the top level as league is a tough sport and most bodies fail after a period of time. I believe a player should be able to earn as much money as they want outside this cap through sponsorship etc. Clubs should be able to help with that openly not behind closed doors like it is at the moment.

 

[Dognacious]

It’s only there to make the poor clubs like Dragons, Manly and Tigers remain competitive. Otherwise it would be like the Premier League where you only have the same 3-4 teams being a realistic chance of winning the title.

Pretty much. With no cap the rich clubs would have all the good players, and because the poor clubs couldnt get those players they will lose, and because they lose they will stay poor. Yeh, we cant get rid of the cap.

 

[CMP]

Pretty much. With no cap the rich clubs would have all the good players, and because the poor clubs couldnt get those players they will lose, and because they lose they will stay poor. Yeh, we cant get rid of the cap.

Having a cap of some description is good for the overall game. Just not a Salary Cap.

The issue is the cap is fluid, with TPA’s allowing the rich clubs to spend way less on a player on the actual salary cap. Than another team. With the TPA making up the difference. Therefore the salary cap is not even for all.

Players need to be independently judged in a points system. With each club only allowed a set amount of points in their top 30.

This would allow players to earn what they are worth. This system itself would also keep wages in check. It would also force the playing talent to spread. But it would also make the “Cap” 100% transparent.

If players were not happy with their point allocation they could go into a voluntary draft. Any player signed through a draft would have their points value halved.

There are so many options and avenues the NRL could take on this. On the whole they lack anyone with vision. The NRL is a reactive organisation. If they were proactive on this and many other areas of the game. We could be a dominant sport in this country. Not the AFLs poor cousin.

 

[Rodzilla]

so that players dont get all the money and club executives can have strippers/lifestyle too

 

[Oatley Dog]

A salary cap is a literal example of communism.

Mate, you clearly haven't been to a communist country

 

[The DoggFather]

Mate, you clearly haven't been to a communist country

Stopping rich clubs to make them even with poor clubs sounds a lot like communism to me.

Looks like you don't know what communism is.

From wiki...

In political and social sciences, communism (from Latin communis, "common, universal")[1][2] is the philosophical, social, political, and economic ideologyand movement whose ultimate goal is the establishment of the communist society, which is a socioeconomic order structured upon the common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes, MONEY[3][4] and the state.[5][6]

 

[Oatley Dog]

I realise it’s there to protect poor clubs but why would the players want it. If the tigers fell over because of poor player payment management this day and age a billionaire would just start up another club at central coast or another booming population area. The players only get a few years at the top level as league is a tough sport and most bodies fail after a period of time. I believe a player should be able to earn as much money as they want outside this cap through sponsorship etc. Clubs should be able to help with that openly not behind closed doors like it is at the moment.

Good news GA, players can earn as much as they want and always have been able to. The only restriction is that they don't get money from a company associated with the footy. Outside of that they can get a billion dollars from some Saudi prince if they can convince him to part with it. We have a cap so the game itself won't go bankrupt. It is as simple as that. We have a small population with limited funds available. If they all go to a handful of clubs we don't have a comp nor a TV deal. The more clubs the more fans the more viewers the more sponsorships and TV money.

 

[Precise]

Mate, you clearly haven't been to a communist country

Its a perfect example of business communism.

The best sports leagues in the world manage without one.

I know why it's there and i'm all for scrapping it, we would of won a ton more premierships by now and that's all that really matters. If other clubs can't run their clubs correctly that's on them, we shouldn't have 80% of the clubs in the NRL operating at a loss it blows the mind.

 

[Rodzilla]

Stopping rich clubs to make them even with poor clubs sounds a lot like communism to me.

its very communist and the scare tactics about what would happen if its taken away is made by the people who would lose money

never mind that it is the biggest problem in the game, like if 8 clubs have been caught using steroids and whole seasons had to be wiped out then steroids would be the biggest problem in the game

 

[B-Train]

There's only a salary cap for half of the teams.

The Roosters, Brisbane and Cronulla don't have a salary cap.

It's the biggest joke of a sporting competition where their cap isn't policed whatsoever and the only time the Nrl flexes its muscle is to prevent 19 year olds like the kid from Manly from making their debuts. All because of their pathetic 30 man squad rule even though the kid would be getting bare minimum match payments.

Meanwhile the Roosters can sign Tedesco, Cronk and Keary while only losing Pearce, SKD, Guerra and Watson while still being able to sign a young Origin forward who every club was after in Crichton and being able to re-sign all of their young stars like Mitchell and Radley.. And then they're also in the market for guys like Taupau etc.

The NRL does nothing about that because they're corrupt, inept and treating the public like fools. So the salary cap should be scrapped when it's not evening out the competition at all as only half the teams abide by the salary cap considering they don't police it!

 

[Oatley Dog]

Its a perfect example of business communism.

The best sports leagues in the world manage without one.

I know why it's there and i'm all for scrapping it, we would of won a ton more premierships by now and that's all that really matters. If other clubs can't run their clubs correctly that's on them, we shouldn't have 80% of the clubs in the NRL operating at a loss it blows the mind.

Sorry, it just wouldn't happen that way. We may have won an odd premiership but the club would probably be broke by now. Everyone seems to think the leagues club is a bottomless pit. Sure it is cashed up but what if we had to pay $5m for a marquee player? How would things look then? So we spend say $50m on players where does the money come from? You really think that having a 10 team comp with 70 less games being shown on TV is going to draw more money? That's not free market, that's lunacy. The cap protects the game from itself. That's why they are bringing in the admin cap. It's another step in the process of limiting the ability of the clubs to rort the system.

Let's face it if we (or any other club) had the ability to get independent sponsors to stump up a few mill every year we would have already done it. We are a small country with limited discretionary spending. It's basic economics and I think you are confusing communism with socialism in any event.