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The salary cap game needs more ladders than Snakes

13th February, 2017
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Manly's Brookvale Oval is in dire need of repair. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
Roar Guru
13th February, 2017
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1624 Reads

Rumours Brett Stewart and Steve Matai had played their last in Manly colours started to swirl before the end of last season.

Now with last week’s confirmation, only two questions remain. Who foots the final bill and will it fall under the salary cap?

The chalk-and-cheese dual-premiership legends will collect their final year earnings without lacing a boot. And who’s to begrudge their golden handshake?

With over a decade of one club service and a place among the top-ten most capped Sea Eagles, the battered pair owes nothing for a rails ride into retirement.

If only it was this simple at Manly head office, where decision makers still negotiate eggshells from the bloody battles of Glenn Stewart and Geoff Toovey that split the club and alienated fans.

Manly’s decade of glory is long gone. An ageing roster on back-ended deals and internal bickering all conspired for an unhealthy decommissioning.

Where the timing of Jamie Lyon’s exit was spot-on, Glenn Stewart’s was the ugly, Matt Ballin’s the unfortunate and Anthony Watmough’s the perfect.

The problem with drafting an ageing player’s final contract is two-fold.

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Firstly, the optimal length is like a piece of string, best measured with hindsight.

And one failed off-season service is all it takes for the second problem to fester into a smoke-and-mirrors contest with the NRL and insurers over final payment specifics.

Insurers only payout if injuries are not pre-existing prior to signing, and for pre-existing injuries, the NRL counts the wages in the season’s salary cap even though the player doesn’t set foot on the park.

Manly Sea Eagles Brett Stewart celebrates their win in the NRL Grand Final at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2011. Manly defeated the Warriors 24 - 10. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

So, in the case of Matai and Stewart, it’s more a case of good luck Sea Eagles.

Matai’s career was plagued by neck issues where the latest restricted him to eight appearances last year, while Stewart missed the final ten weeks of the 2016 season with a knee injury the NRL believe is linked to earlier complications.

Manly look certain to wear the final payments in duplicate while being left powerless to replace two marquee signings until 2018.

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For me, the issue isn’t about the Sea Eagles having to fulfil their contractual obligations. I’m more disturbed about the NRL’s overzealous and inconsistent allocation of the salary cap burden.

Manly misjudged the amount of games Stewart and Matai had in the tank and payed the price with limited on-field return last year and none this year. To see the club stripped of regeneration power on the basis of medical technicalities cuts against the salary cap’s grain of a level playing field.

What player with 200 games under his bonnet isn’t hiding a few mechanical faults? Anthony Watmough could barely walk out of Brookvale then retired at Parramatta just over one season into a four-year deal.

Despite the insurance company ruling Watmough’s retirement coincided with pre-existing injuries, the NRL ruled Watmough’s massive payout would not be included in the 2017 and 2018 salary caps.

Surely there’s a more fair and equitable system to accommodate long-serving players, especially those nearing the end of distinguished one-club careers.

The NRL doesn’t register contracts with proven trouble makers without playing hardball. Perhaps it’s time to be pro-active when registering contracts for its longest serving stars.

Matt Scott deserves to finish where he started, at the Cowboys. The 32-year-old wants a three year deal but Paul Green will only offer two. Newcastle is desperate for Scott’s leadership and despite a pre-existing back injury has offered a three year contract.

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The last thing Newcastle need is to be funding a busted star in retirement while fighting loopholes to save their salary cap.

In this case, what’s to stop the NRL from working with all parties with regard contract conditions and guidelines in the event it is unfulfilled?

Sure, there’s detail to be thrashed but it’s a system the NRL should explore to protect its clubs from the current ad-hoc inconsistencies.

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