Recent salary cap rumblings have thrown up a plethora of alternatives for a new system when the cash starts flowing into the game, including pioneering a new ‘marquee player’ arrangement.
And by pioneering, I of course mean ripping it off the A-League.
Hey, they stole David Gallop first!
But I digress.
A marquee player system most punters would realise is the process of paying one lucky bastard a truckload more than the other hopeless losers in your team because he scores the tries, and as Brad Fittler tells us, therefore gets the girls.
On the outside it’s a stunningly simple model, but in the complex, convoluted world of rugby league politics it becomes as clear as Craig Fitzgibbon’s signature.
For starters the NRL has already has toyed with marquee systems, has done for quite a few years now. Under the rules three marquee players per side could get their contract topped up by a third-party sponsor, so what’s all the fuss?
Well, while the marquee player system has been equal for all clubs, some clubs happen to be more equal than others.
Mention the words ‘marquee player’ to the Canberra Raiders and you may as well be telling them that Bill Pulver is hosting a stand-up comedy set at the Dally M Awards.
If you can’t find a third party sponsor to tip in a hundred large, not totally unreasonable when we have smaller footy teams being sponsored waste water treatment plants and therapeutic soft drinks, then essentially you’re a hundred grand handicapped.
Would this be any better with one great, big, whacking marquee allowance?
And secondly, where do we find the players to give all the cash too?
This may sound ridiculous, as obviously you just give it to the best players in your NRL side.
So who do the Melbourne Storm give it too? Smith? Cronk? Slater?
Alright, so maybe you dangle it to a gun player at another side to snare a position you desperately need.
This too doesn’t always go great guns, as players at the club might have been eyeing it off. And, what if said player is an Andy Gregory at the ’89 Illawarra Steelers style dud? Can you take it back off him?
One suggestion I’ve seen doing the rounds is that the marquee player allowance should solely be available for use of pinching British players from the Super League or athletes from other codes, so that almost overnight the 16 NRL clubs have enough coin to tempt Quade Cooper, Kurtley Beale, Digby Ioane and a whole bunch of All Blacks.
Again such a way of operating raises a tonne of questions, not to mention a whole bunch of suppressed Garrick Morgan memories and more or less Israel Folau 2011-2012.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to see the best players possible playing rugby league and a couple of NRL players a little bit higher up on Australian sport’s rich list, even if it’s just so Charles Barkley can sleep a little better at night.
But let’s make the clubs work for it a bit more than looking over the Wallabies squad and saying “want that one.”
Rugby league is a team sport. If there’s extra cash let’s spread it across an entire squad, and perhaps give clubs salary cap exemptions for players scouted from second tier rugby league states and emerging nations.
NRL club’s need to be responsible for the game and their own talent development.
Not just try shelter under a couple of marquees.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
The message may sink in eventually some day ,but I doubt it,Too many hard of hearing. . http://www.rlef.eu.com/news/article/641/gb-student-pioneers-return-from Year 2013,current time in our lives.Some leopards never change their spots.
Geronimo
Guest
As you do ad nauseam...
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
If you say so,At least they had tremendous courage of their convictions.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
You are right he(Pulver) is hardly the first one to make it, as it must be a special recording they learn when they take on positions of importance with their code.You can set your time piece by it.Handed down from father to son. The ace? I suggest deep down money is the real ace. Funny that Pulver called it an away game,Folau lived as a kid in Minto,within spitting distance of Campbelltown. Yet Steve Menzies has been plying his trade in the South of France for quite some time,playing in the ESL.And a NSW country rugby league team is travelling to Sth Africa this year to play a couple of matches with local sides,and do development work.Damn it another local derby. Pulver proving once an for all ,he is just another pompous JON clone ,who gets his jollies off with the same old mantra. Wait Bill, the Kangaroos are driving all the way to the UK for a tournament, iOW for a local derby. And Manly and Canberra look like pedalling their bikes,for a local NRL game in China next year. This weekend NRL teams apparently play in Sydney suburbs such as Darwin,Mackay,Perth,yep Bill we are stuck in our 1/4 acre Sydney blocks.Dunedin and Cairns are Sydney suburbs.
Jaceman
Guest
The Maquis (pronounced marquee -French WW2 resistance) were hounded by Vichy - perfect for NRL
george
Guest
Who's Jakes horwill??????
Vhavnal
Roar Rookie
I don't write garbage, i just try to add a bit of "reasoning"....... 2 different sports but when one someone decides to say its better than a sport played in MORE than one nation, thats just downright insulting... I only takes swipes at those that claim something but cant actually prove it.....saying "Rugby league is the greatest game of all" over and over again..will not make it the greatest game of all.. ;) in regards to marquee madness, i have already made my intention known above..
Stumpy
Roar Rookie
How about a system that has a soft cap and a hard cap and any team that spends above the soft cap must pay dollar for dollar they go over into a pool that is spit between less financial clubs. Meaning you can spend big if you have the ability but in doing so you are funding your opposition. If a club developes and is fiscally prudent and has great coaching etc they can remain competitive on the paddock. If a club spends between the soft and hard they take it in ass and fund the clubs with shallow pockets. The maximum a team could receive would be to bring them to the soft cap and any funds beyond this level of support should be spent in junior development. There would also have to be a base minimum that a club would have to provide to prove a minimum sustainability a set percentage of the soft cap. Meh it'd be interesting to see how it would go.
Silver_Sovereign
Guest
I wonder if they can fit the cost of Sonny Bill's fake tan under the salary cap
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
it's a pity that I give so many penalties......... :) but that's union for you
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
I would also suggest that all Sydney based clubs 'adopt' a NSW country region and have the players from that region count as juniors. This will force clubs to look after country regions
Wilson Flatley
Roar Rookie
This sort of system is really fraught with danger i feel, a lot more cons than pros.
Titus
Guest
Thats true, culture could well be wasted on most Rugby League players.
Devout Saint
Guest
The Stewart Brothers and Tariq and Korban Sims slipped through our fingers and didn't even play in our lower grades to my knowledge. Brett Stewart would have been the best fullback Saints have had in the last 35 years. Then we let Josh Morris go because Bennett didn't rate him.
Jaceman
Guest
Again it seems the big cities can afford marquees although that Liverpool guy Fowler went to Nth Qld...but maybe that was their undoing when he left..
Chris Chard
Expert
Paris, Penrith, Prague... Ha ha, whenever these type of debates flare up (y'know, like every second day or so round these parts!) I'm reminded of Penrith player Luke Rooney and his trip to Prague with the Kangaroos. “None of us liked it,” Rooney told the Sydney Morning Herald. “There was nothing to do. There were hardly any pubs, no TABs. I’d rather be in Penrith!” To confuse matters further Rooney later moved to France to play in the Top 14 with Toulon, and then back to Australia to play Super Rugby....with Melbourne Ahh..don't know what the point of all this is but I think, like Rooney, the majority of us will be watching the Wallabies test on Saturday night and Origin a couple of weeks later. The less sniping between different sports the better for mine.
Midfielder
Guest
Gotta say from an A-League view the marquee works well ... ADO, Ono etc... the issue has been some players signed as Marquees have turned out to be duds.... I offer the following for consideration... big players bring crowds and media.... RL & RU are often after the same player and whoever gets that player their code is better for it... the secret from experience [A-League] is to have the NRL commission approve and set what is a marquee as in the early days a number of A-League clubs signed top player but they were not marquees ... In summary if it is managed well it is an excellent idea... issue's affecting this is 1] picking a dud 2] a club getting greedy and trying to get a top player who is not a marquee level..
Branko
Guest
Depends what you classify as a 'junior'. For me, a 'junior' is any player who has come through the grades at a club, irrespective of where they came from originally.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
We have a winner. Do this.
AA
Guest
I think a marquee system would work and would make Rugby League much more competitive in the player market. I wouldn't go with a 1 player gets all system. I would leave it up to the club to decide and put a cap on how many players can collect the money. Therefore, say we have a $6m salary cap and a $1.5m marquee allowance (capped at 3 players), Melbourne can pay their big three 700k each out of their cap (2.1m) and 500k each from their marquee allowing the players to stay for 1.2m a season each and still having enough to build a relatively strong squad around them. Under that system, a team could also offer a player all of that money, or all of it plus more ($1.8m...) I think it would make for a really interesting system and also keep the best players in the game.