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I’m still holed up London, although unlike most of the antipodean journalists in town, I’m not hunting down Sonny Bill Williams. I’d suggest they try well known backpacker’s watering hole The Church. It’s gotta be worth a shot.
I was talking to a few guys this week who had colleagues staking him out in Toulon.
Nice for work some.
My idea of stake-out comes from 1980s cop dramas, with nothing but an uncomfortable car seat, cold coffee and doughnuts to keep you and your trusty sidekick company.
Somehow, the south of France with an expense account and a player who isn’t even there is probably very different. But I’m not complaining.
I did note while walking past one of the billion betting shops in this city that the odds for the next Premier League season have been released.
There are no huge surprises, and if you call yourself a football fan but you can’t pick the top four, it might time to get your coat.
But I thought the fact that the fifth ranked side, Tottenham, were paying $51.00 to lift the title was something to consider.
Of course, as we all know, it may as well be $51,000 such is the rigid hierarchy of the English Premier League. But I thought it might prove a poignant lesson to those followers of rugby league in Australia.
There is a lot of talk amongst Australian rugby league circles, and probably even more from outside those circles looking in, about ditching the salary cap.
My fear is that this may be something we might one day regret.
Yes, I believe the salary cap is a work in progress, with more needing to be done to encourage junior development and allowing clubs to keep their veterans. But the wholesale destruction of the cap is something we should think long and hard about.
Most of the arguments for getting rid of the cap come from the idea that it may prevent stars like Sonny Bill Williams and Mark Gasnier from leaving. But given the size of these deals which are reported from France, it seems that even without a cap we’d struggle to match the Euros on offer.
Also, the salary cap has given us an incredibly even competition, possibly one of the most even in world sport, and that is something which shouldn’t be sniffed at.
A world without the salary cap would undoubtedly see a handful of rich clubs begin to monopolise the talent, and the competition would quickly be split into the have and have nots.
Is that really what we want to see?
Even if it is your club, a competition filled with lopsided results doesn’t do much to encourage growth.
There is something truly sad about watching Chelsea fans cheering on a bought victory.
The dream run of the Wests Tigers in 2005 would most likely never again occur under a cap-less system. Yet under the current format, you couldn’t rule it out in any year.
The overall integrity of a competition must be maintained by a salary cap.
And that goes for all codes.
The A-League knows it can’t slug it out with the Europeans, but an even competition is central to the game developing in Australia.
Ditto the AFL.
The salary cap was even adjusted to allow its growth in Sydney and Brisbane. You can forget the growth of the Swans if the salary cap never existed.
That said, it often depends on your perspective: if you have more cash, you are likely to want to spend it.
But that doesn’t necessarily lead to a good competition.
Would a sudden cartel of clubs at the top of the table suddenly improve crowds in the NRL? I’d argue the opposite.
The UK provides another stunning example in the form of Wigan chairman Dave Whelan.
As boss of the Premier League side, Wigan Athletic, he has argued for a salary cap, citing the good it has done for the sport of rugby league in the UK.
Yet, when wearing his rugby league supremo hat, he argues for its abolition because his club has more cash than most.
Thankfully Whelan has not shown such a hypocritical stance on the same day.
Rugby league loves a quick, knee jerk reaction.
I’ve enjoyed reading people talk about the problems that the Super League war created, while then proposing a restructure which sounds very familiar to one proposed eleven years ago.
This is probably just the usual occupational hazard of pontificating about things you have no idea about, but it still brings a smile to my face.
The game needs to continue to evolve but it needs ensure that decisions that are made aren’t forced upon us by the headline writers.
In the end, the likelihood of us looking back and thinking that removing the salary cap was good for the game is on par with Bulldogs fans celebrating Bastille Day next year.
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August 5th 2008 @ 7:31am
joeb said | August 5th 2008 @ 7:31am | Report comment
It’s hard to believe that money alone was the sole factor that influenced SBW to depart the Bulldogs. For a while he’d been talking to union coaches about switching codes, including from memory with Eddie Jones, and it wasn’t so long ago that ARU boss O’Neill said he didn’t want him, yet SBW has harboured a desire to play in the 15-man a-side game for some time.
Although Fitz says in his column “the cap is no more and no less than an illegal cartel among employers to pay their employees less than they’re worth,” respectfully without a ceiling many a club would simply not be able to pay its wages bill and would fall over. Eg., North Sydney Bears where art thou now? (Once a favourite team of mine.) So regrettably and respectfully I’m for the ‘illegal cartel’ so that we may continue to have a RL comp, a RU comp, a AFL comp, a A-League comp and so on.
What’s interesting in all of this as well is the leaguies, at any rate the Manly Sea Eagles boss is saying that they’ve been short-changed in the current TV broadcasting rights deal they have and when it comes up for renewal they need to be reimbursed its true value, and he’s also saying that advertising on players’ jumpers needs to increase ten fold, and that all clubs need to increase membership, and that the comp needs to expand, not contract. And if all this comes to pass then it follows that the cap will increase and players will get paid more.
August 5th 2008 @ 7:37am
joeb said | August 5th 2008 @ 7:37am | Report comment
“he’s also saying that advertising on players’ jumpers needs to increase ten fold,”
What I meant was he’s saying the cost for adverts on players’ jumpers should be ten times the present cost.
August 5th 2008 @ 10:09am
The Link said | August 5th 2008 @ 10:09am | Report comment
Steve, agree that the cap does fit in principle, so to speak…!
What League needs is to tinker with the current structure, not replace it. Perhaps allow for greater third party payments and further dispensations for marquee players, local juniors and long serving players.
Peter Fitzsimons ramblings are to be ignored as per usual. League does not need advice from Rugby on how to run competitions in Australia, look to the roaring success of the ARC….
August 5th 2008 @ 1:46pm
cosmos forever said | August 5th 2008 @ 1:46pm | Report comment
And further to the point by fitzy – “what they are worth” is a lot less if there are only six teams and most of the viewing audience is ostracised.
What people like Fitzy really mean is “What they think they are worth in comparison to other sporting professionals” – but there is no comparison. If a RL game gets 8,000 people to a game then the players are worth a lot less than a code which gets higher attendance and hence higher exposure for sponsors etc.
And that’s from a league fan.
Union players in Oz earn more because there are only four teams at provincial level – it’s not a code battle – it’s a size of market reality.
Lose the cap and have a six team comp within 10 years. Lose restrictions on third party payments and you’ve lost the cap.
August 5th 2008 @ 2:20pm
Redb said | August 5th 2008 @ 2:20pm | Report comment
I don’t mind Peter Fitzsimmons and often read his columns but I reckon he’s way off base with his comments on the salary cap. Its old news that it could be considered a cartel and therefore illegal. The courts have already ruled that as long as the cap passes a reasonableness test and is for the benefit of the general public it is acceptable.
There are risks if a competition like the NRL grew revenue and kept the profits, ie: without sharing that revenue increase via an increase in the salary cap. It has to be transparent withy the players association and thus keep them on side. If a comp has not increased revenue by 10% it can hardly increase the salary cap by 10%.
The issue with SBW is that he signed a contract and then got a better offer – it is not a salary cap issue. At the time he accepted the money or he would not have signed the contract. Now is there is better money on offer in French rugby he does a runner. If French rugby implodes in two years , so will the temptation.
The NRL can only afford $4M bsed on tis revenue, this is like setting a salary budget in business it’s that simple. If the employess don’t like the salary dont sign and look for other employment.
Redb
August 5th 2008 @ 3:23pm
Millster said | August 5th 2008 @ 3:23pm | Report comment
Steve, interesting article to read, even as a ‘non-Leaguie’.
I come from a basic position of being opposed to salary caps, drafts, and other artificial levelling mechanisms. I think there is no difference in sadness between watching Chelsea ‘buy’ a victory, and watching a gutter team in the NRL or AFL turn around fortunes over a few years not because of any merit but because of the draft concessions and salary cap levelling / player distribution effects that they can enjoy. Both are equally fake and hollow.
Some months ago I set aside some time to do some reseach on this topic, so as to not just bleat on about the philosophy but rather to propose a structure that could be considered. While I was writing at the time in relation to A-League, the basic idea could equally apply to NRL or AFL. Rather than re-write, here is the link :
http://www.theroar.com.au/2008/02/05/the-nbas-soft-salary-cap-and-its-potential-for-the-a-league/
PS: in the EPL I follow Spurs and really like some of their off season signings. So a few bucks at $51 is just fine by me…
August 5th 2008 @ 3:49pm
Midfielder said | August 5th 2008 @ 3:49pm | Report comment
Just on the cap there was a legal guy on the ABC who said in his opinion the Football & AFL caps where legal and the NRL not.
Reason the football cap was agreed and signed off by the players association and the various clubs as well as FFA. Similar to the AFL model as I understand it. Within the signed agreement it is stated for the greater benefit of players.
Thus it is hard to argue when everyone else says its OK and increases player numbers. However the NRL is just put in with no agreement. I am a messagener here BTW and assume the guy new what he was talking about.
August 5th 2008 @ 4:03pm
The Link said | August 5th 2008 @ 4:03pm | Report comment
Millster, there’s more merit and a huge difference between;
1. getting and developing the best players with a set, level pool of funds
2. a competition for who’s got the biggest wallet
If both are artificial then give me the lesser of two evils any day, No.1.
August 5th 2008 @ 6:49pm
Ian Noble said | August 5th 2008 @ 6:49pm | Report comment
Steve
I hope you are enjoying your time in London, did you manage to see Quins RL v Bradford Bulls? A cracking game of League Quins eventually winning 36-24 but a pitiful crowd according to the figures in the media of 2580. I wish more of your expat countrymen in London (and there are a few thousand in Earls Court et al) would take out to support the Quins if they are true League fans. It is only £10 for a ground ticket. Perrhaps you can out in a word.
On the question of salary capping we have an interesting situation in union between Guinness Premier league and the French Top 14. The GP has a cap of £4M pa whereas the Top 14 is uncapped. It will be interesting to see how that pans out as the French are determined to have bragging rights in Europe. The GP want to maintain the cap and bring through more English players but if they lose their grip on the major European competition will views change. With the salary cap, there is no doubt that GP are becoming very choosey about off shore players, as an example, my team, the Quins only reinforcing the squad with four OS players including Nick Evans the ex AB. They cannot compete with the likes of Toulon or Stade Francais and would GP clubs take a risk on SBW? In the current climate it is unlikely but the French with bottomless pockets the story is different
As an aside, the number of well known League players switching is very small (Vianolkolo Bradford Bulls to Gloucester and Hape Bradford Bulls to Bath being the only two examples I can think of during recent months) with an increasing tendency for GP clubs to prefer acquiring young League players, and coach and groom them over more than one season. There are couple of good examples but watch out for Chris Ashton who moved from Wigan Warriors to Northhampton Saints. He is 20 and a scoring machine, a great prospect and now the Saints are back in the GP it will be interesting to see how he performs at the top level.
August 5th 2008 @ 7:25pm
Photon said | August 5th 2008 @ 7:25pm | Report comment
Steve
I’m just curious about something, Sonny Bill has decided to tackle the fairness of a salary cap, something about it being a restraint of trade. Don’t you think he has a reasonable chance of winning because the salary cap does for all intents and purposes amount to a limitation on his earning potential?