Rugby league needs a new window

Roar Guru

By Steve Kaless, 6 Jul 2009 Steve Kaless is a Roar Guru

Tagged:: Free Agency, NRL, Rugby League, Super League, Transfer window

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Roosters captain Braith Anasta during NRL Round 3, Wests Tigers v Sydney Roosters, Sydney Football Stadium, Friday, March 27, 2009. (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Renee McKay)

As primarily a rugby league fan I always find this time of the European football season fascinating. Players are traded across the continent as huge sums of money is transferred from one brimming account to another and players seemingly find themselves with the need to find an apartment in Wigan pronto. And all this, while everyone is meant to be on their summer holidays.

Despite being in recess football still dominates the headlines (especially as Man City’s new owners find out that oil wealth is one thing but the lure of being a galatico another) and the hype only increases as the transfer deadline approaches.

So if the transfer window works well for football, why can’t it work for rugby league?

Why can’t all player dealings for the following season be restricted from October 4 to say January 4?

The current chaos where players are “tapped up” at any time during the season and players can announce they are heading elsewhere at the drop of a hat does little for the game as a whole.

However, I’d argue that it also may sell the players short.

Players and managers drive the current chaos. They claim it is too hard to move in a short period.

I’ve always found this argument a bit weak. First, if you are moving from one Sydney club to another you hardly need to move and if you are moving cities, well you hardly move until the end of the season anyway.

It is not like a player, who knows he’ll be playing in Brisbane next year, will spot a good rental deal in July and decide to move up there and commute.

As it stands though players and managers like the freedom of having the time to shop themselves around and look for the best deal, but does it really work out that way?

It seems to have a parallel with the housing market, and in that instance those selling the product seem to prefer a short tense selling period.

People selling houses like to capitalise on the adrenalin of the deal. They don’t want people mulling things over and constantly looking for a better deal. They like auctions when people need to up the cash or miss out.

So why aren’t players the same? If you an in-form player, why wouldn’t you want to have a nice bidding war going on over a short space of time as panicked clubs look to fill a roster.

Why give clubs the opportunity to shop around for a cheaper option?

It seems that the current approach of “the good of the game” isn’t working at present, so maybe it is time we try and appeal to their self interest.

Furthermore, seeing the English Super League is run at largely the same time there should be no reason why it couldn’t be an international window.

I mean is there any real benefit in Mark O’Meley knowing he’ll be eating fish and chips in Hull next season rather than Bondi now rather than at the end of October? The same applies to Craig Fitzgibbon.

And doesn’t it give the impression to Roosters fans that the team’s leaders, who you would hope are still looking to fight their way out of this mess, are already eyeing next season.

In the end no matter how you pitch it, something should be done.

The AFL system, despite a survey by the AFL Players Association showing that 93.5 percent of players would prefer the NRL system of free agency, might be a good start.

But surely anything would be an improvement.

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The Crowd Says (10) | Page 1 of Comments

Stradlater said | July 6th 2009 @ 8:14am | Report comment

The rental market in Wigan is dominated by washed up australian rugby league players and Wigan just sold their main player to Man Utd…an odd choice of example.

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Brett McKay said | July 6th 2009 @ 10:03am | Report comment

Steve, you’ve hit in one – players and managers, and realistically, just managers. June 30 was abolished becuase of claims of restraint and other such palava. As for not enough time to move, Brett Finch didn’t seem to have much trouble relocating from Sydney to Melbourne in a week in May, so I don’t undertand that point either.

O’Meley is good case in point – what’s the likelihood he’ll be playing NRL again this year?? The Roosters encouraged him to look elsewhere, have now got their wish, so why would they play him again?? Maybe the idea is to bring in window as you’ve suggested, but to give the incumbent club first and last right of refusal??

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Steve Kaless said | July 6th 2009 @ 5:33pm | Report comment

Stradlater,

That is true, but Wigan will probably now buy about 6 players with the cash from the Valencia sale. Look out for a surge in rental requests above the pie shops in Wigan!

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- Mr Cool said | June 29th 2010 @ 5:32pm | Report comment
  
  And what better place to shack up, Wigan’s pies are WONDERFUL, they actually have real meat in them. good choice Steve, you are obviously a ‘Man of the World. and most of your articles are believable. What a rare thing for me to say against a Journo. lol
  
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John Ryan said | July 6th 2009 @ 9:16pm | Report comment

The AFL system will only last till it is challenged under restraint of trade in the courts,and as night follows day some one will,then it will get interesting for the AFL people.
Is Mason off to Japan,is he our revenge for their treatment of WW2 Aussie prisoners.

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kevin from glebe said | July 6th 2009 @ 11:28pm | Report comment

the short buying window system can work but it will only be of benefit to the rich and under the table handout clubs.
at the moment its in the best interest of the player managers theyre killing it.

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The Answer said | July 7th 2009 @ 5:18am | Report comment

Good point Kevin.

Can’t believe the Roosters aren’t pushing for it now.

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The man said | July 7th 2009 @ 2:17pm | Report comment

Having players re-signing/moving mid season is an unnecessary distraction. Who wants to know that your player will be off to another club in a year and a half.

Players, managers and clubs should all be able to deal with contract matters in the “off season” only and it would make for good copy for the media.

I thought this is how it used to be done in days gone by.

Given most football club activity takes place in the lead up to the following year, perhaps their is some self interest here from the clubs in not wanting to also deal with player rosters.

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Greg Russell said | July 7th 2009 @ 3:48pm | Report comment

Steve, as far as I am aware there is also a mid-season transfer window in European football leagues as well. It is not as active as the between-season period, but it is necessary.

I don’t know if you frequent the football pages at these sites, but one general argument I am always having with diehard football fans is that just because it’s done a particular way in football, that doesn’t mean it’s optimal. The thing one has to remember about European football is that it’s so much bigger than all other sports that to all intents and purposes it operates in a non-competitive environment. Australia could not be more different in this respect. Australian football diehards become gleeful over the prospect of multiple divisions in Australian football with promotion and relegation between them, just like in Europe. But what they fail to understand is that this would probably kill the sport commercially (who would want to sponsor a team that could be relegated a few months later?). Similarly with off-season transfers: just because European football does it that way, that doesn’t mean it’s best (I don’t know).

From memory Wayne Bennett has some good ideas on how rugby league could improve how transfers are done. Then again, I think it was you who pointed out the extreme irony of Bennett being scathing of mid-season transfer announcements for a following season, and then doing exactly this himself last year (i.e., announcing at the beginning of a Broncos season that he would be going to the Dragons).

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Mr Cool said | June 29th 2010 @ 6:54pm | Report comment

I believe that the AFL draft system is far better than the ‘open market approach that the NRL take. at least it seems that players can’t just pick a team where they want to go to, without that team offering another player for the transfer, Is this actually how it works or am I way off target??. I would like a better understanding of their system, so, if anyone can explain, greatly appreciated. example, Hannant wants to go back to Brisbane, do they have to negotiate a wage or can other teams grab him from the draft??.

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