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Billy Buttons

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Joined May 2016

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Love all sports but have a particular soft spot for the Eels and the mighty Texas Longhorns.

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That’s not true. The primary purpose of the cap is to ensure an even playing field between clubs. This is from the NRL’s website:

“The NRL Salary Cap serves two functions:

1. It assists in “spreading the playing talent” so that a few better resourced clubs cannot simply out-bid other clubs for all of the best players. If a few clubs are able to spend unlimited funds it will reduce the attraction of games to fans, sponsors and media partners due to an uneven competition. Allowing clubs to spend an unlimited amount on players would drive some clubs out of the competition as they would struggle to match the prices wealthy clubs could afford to pay.”

The only reason the Salary Cap stands up legally is because the NRL has a right to ensure it runs an even comp. TPA’s are threatening that, and in hand, potentially threatening the legal standing of the Salary Cap…. but that’s another article all together 🙂

The NRL's silence on TPAs is deafening

Yes it is unfortunate in my view. I’m not asking for details of every business transaction a player is involved in. I agree that asking to view players bank accounts is just not possible nor is it reasonable, but there has to be a middle ground.

The NRL discloses how much each club is allocated in players salaries, why not show us how much each club declares in TPA payments? Every public company discloses how much it pays its top executives in salary as well as share bonuses and the like. Players have their contract values played out all through the media, these guys are not signing up to work for McDonalds they are taking high profile jobs and need to accept the limelight that comes with it.

Even if clubs don’t break it down by player, they could tell us the total amount so we can see that e.g. the Broncos have $1.5M vs the Knights $200K.

This is a question about governance and the number of breaches shows the system is not working. Greenberg himself says he wants to provide more ‘transparency’ on the issue.

The NRL's silence on TPAs is deafening

Thanks for the comments guys. I disagree again though, if TPAs are not connected to the club why are they being asked for to join a specific club? If you want Joe Bloggs to endorse your cleaning company, it shouldn’t matter if he plays for Manly or Melbourne or Penrith. If you want him to endorse your cleaning company because you’re a Melbourne fan and want him at Melbourne, good for you but that is getting around the point of the TPA carve out.

Whilst the comp has had good turnover in premiers, it has had WAY too many cap scandals for the system to be deemed a success. What other codes have had this type of drama? Teams losing titles, teams being stripped of points, and suspicion over every big signing because we don’t know how much is being paid above board and how much is a mysterious TPA. Greenberg himself has said they need to do more to give transparency around it – but he has done nothing. That is the point of the article, I’m not suggesting it’s easy or that I have a fix. But give us something – the integrity of the comp is at stake.

The NRL's silence on TPAs is deafening

It’s interesting, the TPAs were introduced so that the superstars of the game weren’t unfairly restricted from getting paid.

Why should the Storm have to include the income Billy Slater receives from Queensland Bananas as a penalty for their cap when it is an arms length transaction, free from reference to the NRL or the Storm, and he is just benefiting from his profile. And that is a strong argument.

But clubs cotton on to this and suddenly all sorts of players start moving around and getting mysterious third party payments but only if they are at one club or another. Which in itself is weird – wasn’t the idea of excluding TPAs from the cap because they shouldn’t unfairly represent a club payment? But now have TPAs become a bargaining chip for clubs to entice players to move to them.

And clubs are allowed to introduce this player to a third party but then disappear from the process and hope magically that the TPA provider comes up with the right number.

Who is getting paid what by whom? We have no idea. But we know that the Knights have a terrible roster and the Broncos have an awesome roster so we can take a guess.

Meanwhile every few years a club is caught doing the dodgy.

I think the system sucks. And if it doesn’t suck, then the NRL is not doing a very good job of telling us how it works. Give us some numbers please. They have them, why won’t they show them to us and then more people can decide if it makes sense rather than us having to trust the word of someone because they tell us they know how good clubs operate.

The NRL's silence on TPAs is deafening

I like the idea rakshop. At the very least we need some more information. Public companies list their top executives remuneration, why shouldn’t rugby league clubs?

The NRL's silence on TPAs is deafening

Thanks for the comment! I honestly can say I spent weeks reviewing information available and am still in the dark on the nuances of what is allowed and what isn’t. I am waiting for the NRL to provide more information but suspect they won’t because they know the system is fundamentally flawed.

The NRL's silence on TPAs is deafening

“Drag every club back to the lowest level” – umm that’s the point of the salary cap. To create an even competition. TPAs completely sidestep this process and are being used by clubs with better resources to bypass the rules – legally or not. If you accept all clubs aren’t equal, why bother having the salary cap in the first place? Having facilities is one thing, but having a roster filled with more talent than the next team is another.

The NRL's silence on TPAs is deafening

Thanks for reading and commenting guys. You may both be right, unfortunately the NRL doesn’t show us how much each club ‘receives’ in TPA benefits so we punters need to look at the rosters and make an educated guess. Which kind of addresses my original point – it would be nice if the NRL gave us something rather than the radio silence we currently receive!!

The NRL's silence on TPAs is deafening

Thanks for the comment, though I’m not sure I agree. Irvine’s comments mightn’t be surprising, but they seem to entirely defeat the point of excluding TPAs from the cap. If club’s are organising or introducing them, why should they be excluded? That approach seems at best skirting the rules, at worst in breach.

As to restricting amounts players can earn, I agree, but isn’t that the whole purpose of the cap? Players will necessarily be paid less than what the market wants to pay them.

I also question how many Inglis/Thurston/Hayne’s there are in the league to justify this whole regime.

It reminds me of Animal Farm – all clubs are equal, but some clubs are more equal than others.

The NRL's silence on TPAs is deafening

Well said!

The NRL's silence on TPAs is deafening

Agreed – clearly the system is not working!

The NRL's silence on TPAs is deafening

All valid points. I like the penalty concept with no restart of penalty count. Not sure the specialist kicker would work with salary cap, but a good idea to get more demographics interested.

Five NFL concepts the NRL should consider

Thanks mate. As a Parra fan it’s always good for me to have NFL season to look forward to in September 🙂

Five NFL concepts the NRL should consider

Agree with Kiwi. Industrial Relations laws have changed a lot since 91. I believe they could structure a draft with the RLPA so that it was acceptable.

Five NFL concepts the NRL should consider

Good point on the 15 rounds, which does make it a bit short. Like others here have said maybe closer to 20 is more realistic.

I agree with the sinbin comments but think referees are acutely aware that any sinbin will make a big impact on the game and they are eager to avoid it.

Disagree that a restart is the same as a kick for touch. Particularly with the trend for taking 2 points that Bennett is leading.

Five NFL concepts the NRL should consider

All valid points, I guess Laurie has shown his hand and wants to be seen as loyal. I don’t care who it is – but somebody needs to stand up. They probably miss Hayne too – I always thought he was a lazy club player but seemed to have more desire to start something during Origin.

Forget the spine, where's NSW's brain?

Hang on a second Twice the head doesn’t make twice the brain…. hahah we could definitely do with some Queensland smarts though.

Forget the spine, where's NSW's brain?

Yeah I tend to agree. But I hate the impact the June internationals break have on Super Rugby. It’s like watching a movie, stopping at the half way mark, and coming back and watching the rest a month later. You eventually get back into it but it’s not the same!

The conundrum of Origin scheduling

They can. But I think it’s hurting the comp.

The conundrum of Origin scheduling

Interesting idea – I love the idea of internationals during this time but I’m not sure about City Country and the 9s…

The conundrum of Origin scheduling

Unfortunately it’s not that easy. Unlike the Titans/Tigers scenarios, the club doesn’t rely on the NRL hand out to survive. The NRL has less leverage over the board. But agree with the sentiment – I think that is their strategy here.

Trouble in Parradise: A history of internal warfare at the Eels

I hear you mate. As we always say – there’s always next year.

Trouble in Parradise: A history of internal warfare at the Eels

Haha will do. It is so hard to get an objective view of what’s going on at Parra, it’s like the Middle East!

Trouble in Parradise: A history of internal warfare at the Eels

Thanks mate. I’m just taking it one week at a time #boomtish.

Trouble in Parradise: A history of internal warfare at the Eels

Oops that was a typo I meant objective!! First article nerves – apologies.

Trouble in Parradise: A history of internal warfare at the Eels

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