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With less than 100 days until the start of the 2013 season and with all teams now back on the park for pre-season training, it is a good time to have a look at what has taken place since the less-than-thrilling 2012 NRL Grand Final.
Most of the talk has surrounded the introduction of the new ARL commission to deal with the big issues in the game.
What was the first point of call for this new authority? Controversial try decisions? Players behaving badly off the field? Representative duties and fatigue? No, the biggest issue in the game currently is increasing player safety.
What might you ask is the best way to achieve this? By banning the iconic shoulder charge! Wait, what?
This has been an integral element of the game of rugby league since its introduction in 1901. While I admit there are dangers with this technique, as we witnessed this year when Dean Young was knocked unconscious by Greg Inglis, there is nothing better in the game than seeing two forwards going flat out and seeing who comes off second best.
The other big talking point has been the coming and going of some superstars of the game. The return of Sonny Bill Williams.
While I agree the man was lethal when he was at the Bulldogs, I also think there has been way too much hype over his return. Former teammates have labelled it a disgrace that he can return to the NRL while I’m sure new Roosters teammates will be glad to have some new strike power in their defensive line.
Israel “Izzy or Isn’t He” Folau. Much media coverage was given when he left the GWS Giants with the intention of returning to the NRL. Several teams jumped at this, with the main contender being the Parramatta Eels, but there was only one small problem…this little thing called a salary cap.
A player the quality and popularity of Folau demands $400,000 plus a year which was a big problem for the Eels who only had $150,000 left for next season and so the fight began. Who could sign Izzy? Speculation came from multiple clubs, including the South Sydney Rabbitohs, but this all came with the same result, we simple can’t afford him.
It now seems Folau is most likely to turn his back on both the AFL and NRL and head to Europe for a stint in French rugby union. This raised new issues for the NRL as the players association made claims of ‘we need more money!’, ‘just increase the salary cap!’
This idea has been strongly backed by some of the biggest names in the NRL, including Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Johnathon Thurston. They are arguing that the cap should be increased from the current $5 million to around $6 million after 2013. But where will this money go?
There are teams that are currently abiding easily to the current cap so why increase it to help the strong clubs offer more money to secure good players and make themselves even stronger? Isn’t that why the salary cap was introduced in the first place?
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