Let's go slow on player wages

The NRL might be a bit behind the AFL but they are catching up and I think with international broadcast rights the NRL deals will probably be bigger than the AFL's in the near future.

Pull ya head in mate and go back to whence you came, you're a semi literate, partisan buffoon - oh - and merry Xmas.

More people are playing afl in NSW because it is easier to play than the rugby codes. The real athletes are still playing league and union.

Our little 2 state code is way out in front. With only 16 teams to support and less players and juniors in 2 states already being linked to our major clubs all under the one banner is huge. Brisbane has linked back into Ipswich, the second biggest junior area outside Logan. The Titans are looking at linking with Logan, which makes sense, the Storm are strengthening their Wellington link and Cairns rugby league will be playing another trail game which also helps the Northern pride which is growing rapidly with FTA coverage now on channel 9 each week Sunday's. Rugby leagues 150% pay increase has taken our code to a new level, unseen before. The ARTIE program and Fogs along with Cyril Connel and Mal Meniga junior comps, rugby league in Queensland has never looked better without any help from the new TV deal. The Soccer boys and rugby league lads are starting to mix in together nicely as they do in the North of England. Now we need get rugby league into every public school Victoria , south oz and West OZ , Perth. Nobody does Iindigenous and Pacific growth like rugby league with juniors and cultural youth. It is why rugby league gets all the funding in Queensland NSW and why we recently won the award for indigenous work in the communites award in London. Our programs are ground breaking which took 2-4 decades to perfect.

It was stated including naming rights from the outset The last deal included naming rights,if one bothered to check.Never suggested otherwise.Naming rights $5-$10m pa,mobile $10m to $20m pa. The code will get additional share of profits from mobile users other than Telstra,as the new deal opens up access to the likes of Optus,Vodaphone. What happened to all your fellow travellers who predicted the code would get $700m up to $800m tops.The stunned silence was deafening.The code got $1.025bn first up,before the add ons. Transparency??? Like tanking, you mean?

Rugby league is also played nationwide at grassroots level as is soccer and rugby union.You can even play it in Tassie FHS.A wafer thin argument to cite,if ever there was one. As it now appears the NRL have caught up on minimum payments $80,000, salary cap increased markedly.marquee players amount gone up substantially all to be ratified by the individual clubs,but recommended by the RLPA.' Who knows what the final washout will be on the media deals already approaching 1.175bn with Sky NZ,International rights and radio rights to be added. Throw in SOO payments for players,tests,rLWC payments,the always playing catchup notion is becoming a little parti pris. And the code will have a future fund as a back up. Too little too late LOL ,I am sure the players,admin and fans are crying .Crying tears of happiness.

Oh & I thought it was $150 mill, including naming rights. Not that there is any transparency, that would be to admit defeat.

How many of Australia's top 50 sports earners come from League? Any takers? 0 That and the fact the Aussie Rules is played nationwide at grassroots level. I would suggest that League is at least 10 years behind. Always playing catchup to the AFL. Too little, too late.

The real key is stopping this government wasting money on projects one tenth the size of league projects across the country if only queenlsand is anything to go by. Here is a report with the ex NSW premier crying fowel and once again highlights the nonsense the NSW public probably had to endure with this m,uppet running their state. Facts and figures dont lie, is why Queensl;and indigenous rugby league has aquired all the funding for indigenous klids and school program. As i have said, enough is enough. It is time for rugby league to shine across Australia, think of the work we could be acheiving south of the border. Let the demolition begin. http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/national/qld-league-scoops-school-funding-pool/story-e6frfku9-1226536151627

That going to the schools in the country is already being done,and now with the extra money will be ramped up even further. The Cowboys and Broncos and Titans do it. There was a ground at Blacktown available at one stage.Not now. The very reason, Grant & Co have ensured there will be a future fund.

You're both right. The tricky part for League is that money is needed everywhere. The key is spending the right amount in the right areas at the right time. That's Grant & Co's brief.

Ian kids play the sport as per what they see on TV. I grew up following the NSWRL coz it was on TV. I didnt care if some so-called important footballer from the VFL came thru my school and showed me how to drop punt. Kids play RL in schools do they not? You can play in the NRL at 18 right? The notions that money thrown at grass roots causes kids to like a sport is garbage. Do u remember what Michael Jordan did for basketball? Kids follow heros and copy them...you know this.

I cant mention other codes, someone gets upset if i do. Mind you yes,. Our code has increased the minimun wage in line with what our code is worth. The 5.8 million cap with the 7 million to each club is as close to operfect for our code as you can get, along with another 400 thousand extra to the Marquee player allowance will help our code keep and retain our champs. I was a little bit concerned that they might have tried to lift the salary cap to far. But cool sensible heads won out. The ARLC said they wanted a 225 million war chest after 5 years. Maybe now that might be a little conservative. It all depends now on how much the commission can influience this or the next government. The boys have already got Aus-aid to relaese 3year funding worth 4 million to PNG for schools. This will increase more funding with sponsers willing to add more to the codes growth. 600 million will go to the clubs over 5 years, maybe a touch more. So now it comes down to how much they will be purtting towards Australiaisian growth. Even if you allowed a 300 million warchest over 5 years, you still have roughly around 300 million over 5 years to spend on grassroots. Plus whatever government spending we should be able to get now we are throwing everything at Australian growth. 60 to 100 million, somewhere in that ballpark area is for grassroots growth over five years. If it is 80 million(a year) let's say, then that is what we had to support our whole code for each year the last 6 years(last deal was 500million over 6 years), now think about that, and we still held our own and grew the game. This is big, really big and expect to see some big things happening from next year onwards. Forget Gallop, we will be building a statue for our commissioners. Moon doggy.

Matt that's always been my thinking outside of Hunt we've only lost outside backs - the most replaceable positions on the field. Clearly you don't "need" to pay them 1m. People pay to see their club - not the players. If the players were the product (as Gallen said) rather than the labour (as MG here more correctly refers to them) then you'd see massive swings in revenue based around players retiring or moving to other clubs, which hasn't happened.

And then you will wonder why more and more AFL is being played, because they spent the money on the bottom of the pyramid while you, being the lazy and short term thinker you are, let the grass roots of the code wither through lack of care.

Where the money needs to be spent isnt on the country second-rower. Its on paying his coach to go to Sydney for a three-day course about helping players recover from injury. Its on having the NRL players tour the country schools so kids can see their heroes in the flesh. Its on the code being able to make sure teams have grounds to play on.

I feel like the only sane person in the world sometimes. "They need a million a year". Yes, that's what they said about football (soccer) players a few years ago. Then 2 million. Then 5 million. Then ridiculous millions a year. And it's still never enough. It's not sustainable, there are only so many billionaires happy to lose tens of millions a year for fun. They need to raise the minimum limit so that everyone gets a better piece of the pie. Let's be realistic - if marquees are paid so rubbish, how come so few leave?

Gareth, if someone chooses to play league for the love of it I'm not here to subsidise them. Nor am I going to pay for Joe Bloggs to play badminton. However I am paying to see the Canberra Raiders wallop the Wests Tigers. Ergo, the money for that must go to the Raiders and their players. Certainly not George Dorgus playing for the Tamworth Cheetahs.

Screw the top guys. Let's make sure the blokes who do the same work with less finesse are looked after. Whenever anyone attempts to justify a salary in the hundreds of thousands they alway come back with "You can't play league forever, this way they're looked after for the future." So what about the blokes taking the same physical toll on their bodies for $60k a year? Who is looking after them?

Yeah turbo its a hard one , a lot of good players come from the country who do deserve , i believe something in the way of funding but the money can only be stretched so far , maybe in the next few years we will see something for the struggling rural clubs , i hope so ..