Apart from being supreme professional athletes, Sonny Bill Williams, Israel Folau, Karmichael Hunt and Sam Burgess have all branded themselves high above their respective sports, whether they know it or not.
This quartet were only kids when converts Wendell Sailor, Mat Rogers and Lote Tuqiri left the NRL for the big money being offered by the ARU in the early 2000s.
As rugby league fans, they probably didn’t realise what the defections meant for the sporting codes in the long-term.
Sure there had been players switching codes long before 2002. One of the most famous names in either league or union, Dally Messenger, was the man who helped spawn Australian rugby league in those early days after leaving the amateur code.
But money today has a different definition to the one it had way back in 1907. Today, it is just as much about image and ‘getting your money up’, to steal a tragic American line.
But this is not a ramble about the career intentions of Williams, Hunt, Burgess or Folau. They have every right – if they’re good enough – to play any sport they damn well choose.
Gone are the days where we think we can banish them from the NRL forever just because they pick another sport. We can all agree that copious amounts of money has been involved in all these players’ deals, but you can’t keep them out of the game. They are marquee players with marquee names and boost any competition they’re in.
But should we be putting extra money aside just so they can come back down the track?
You can hear the player managers laughing all the way from their palatial mansions. From next season NRL CEO Dave Smith has been given discretion to throw whatever he sees fit at superstar free agents.
If this isn’t a Pandora’s Box, what is?
Rugby league should always welcome these men back and especially so considering the extra money on the table from the billion dollar TV deal.
But even more to get the likes of Folau and Hunt back? Burgess and Williams haven’t even left yet but now we’ve basically told them that if they want to come back they can do so for an even larger chunk of the pie?
Put it this way. The same year Williams ducked out the backdoor on the game, gun fullback and future Dally M Medal winner Ben Barba was making his debut for the club Williams had just left.
When Folau and Hunt took those monster contracts and left for AFL in 2011, rookies were making their mark in the NRL. A few blokes called Daly Cherry-Evans, Gareth Widdop and Shaun Johnson. You might have heard of them?
And then there is Burgess, who leaves for English rugby at season’s end. While we say sayonara to him we welcome Luke Brooks, Anthony Milford and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck as superstars of the future, just to name a few.
The money is already there if they really want to play in the NRL. Why should we fight this invisible threat when all we are really doing is playing into the hands of those who dare leave in the first place?
Dave Smith might as well just start handing out blank cheques to anyone who threatens to leave or publicly shares their love of another sport.
We have to remember that we, the sport of rugby league, are the creators of these players. Not the other way around. We will continue to produce superstars as long as we don’t forget who runs the show.
A superstar is created from the womb of opportunity and if we continue to worry about guys like Hunt and Folau, we will destroy the conveyor belt that makes our game great.
One media outlet broke the news of the salary cap changes with the headline, “The empire fights back” in a reference to a sporting Star Wars.
Doesn’t ‘The Empire’ get blown to smithereens?
NRL officials need to stop worrying about what’s happening over the fence and worry about their own backyard, our backyard.
The stars of tomorrow will thank you.
81paling
Roar Rookie
It was a stupid mistake for Schubert to block the Eels from getting Falou for the NRL as a hole. This year Eels home crowds have almost doubled from just over 12K to 21k average home crowd attendance. Crowds love the excitement and unpredictable nature of the Eels plus the success, the Eels have been the single main reason that the crowd slump of earlier in the year was halted if Israel Falou had been added to this mix it would have further increased the crowds, the media attention and the following of the game as a hole. The new salary cap will allow for Smith to see an opportunity like what is presented to him at Parra and act on it. Added to this he can institute terms & conditions that clubs must abide by in order to get players like this. Gordon Tallis said on radio last Friday that independent polling showed that within the Sydney Metro area 500k sited the Eels as the NRL team they would support. What is clear now is that if you added Falou to the Eels line up you would get the attention of League lovers who want to see the brilliance of Hayne. Union and Waratah followers that now grow in number because of the talent of Falou and incompetence of Schubert. With the unprdictable opportunistic entertainment that Sandow has displayed this year, the re-emergence of Will Hopoate and the rise and rise of Semi Radrandra the Eels would be confident enough to take more games to stadium Australia, SOO would recieve another talented player. An average home game attendance for the Eels that doubled with almost twice as many wins as this time last year to 21k would simply have tripled to over 30k per match. Therefore it simply makes sense for the NRL to step in and contract Falou to Parramatta for a 3 year contract.
Pomoz
Roar Rookie
Chui, no, I haven't assumed that. They only need to be paid more than they could in league to make the switch. If we assume the highest paid player in league is say $1m and the player can get $1.4m in Union, why wouldn't they switch codes? Dan Carter could be on 1.8M, but that doesn't stop the league player getting an improved package.
peeeko
Roar Guru
it would be great if Izzy would come back to league. But before he left he was a good rep player but not a huge name. It seems code hopping makes you a bigger name and attaches more value to your contract and gets CEO's all excited and pay extra money. Was Izzzy leaving the game a drain in dollars for the NRL, i dont think we lost much at all, his value is pumped by the ability to switch codes which is something i think the new rule encourages
peeeko
Roar Guru
agree totally
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
+1. The NRL has proven it is one of the best developers of talent along with its associated comps.
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
Good to see Fijian academy current tour of Australia atm. They just beat Patrician Brothers Fairfield. The national schools comp is sponsored by Vodafone.
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
"The Raiders, Sharks, Tigers, Roosters, Cowboys, Knights et al, will sit at the bottom of the table every season and eventually go broke trying to keep up. If you think crowds are poor now, see what happens when you take away the “any given Sunday” principle." Do you know the ownership structure of the Raiders, for instance? It is one of the richest clubs (asset rich in real estate-rental income), if not the richest in the Australian sporting landscape. They could probably spend the next 100 years at the bottom of the table and be financially viable. Did you know the Sharks have just moved into the realms of perennial landlords taking a cut of income that will ensure stability. What puts the Bunnies in category 1? Owners have limited personal financial wealth. Membership could tumble if premierships aren't garnered, sponsorship drop could follow. No other assets from what I know after their leagues club sold off. Some strange groupings of clubs.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
So they are now up to 44% imports,thought they had a big local base on which to work.So much for local effect. I was referring Steve to rl academies,where none existed prior in Fiji. I visited Fiji October last and the interest in the NRL compared to when I visited last in 96 ,was mind boggling.Thanks to the Petero effect,I suggest.the Manager at the Raddison at Denaru mentione dthe growing interst in rugby league there.
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
Rabbitohs also in black, NQ in black, and I think a few other clubs made small profits in 2013 (Manly, Roosters, Bulldogs, Eels, Raiders, Warriors) so not as bleak as one would imagine. With increase in TV income, restructure of clubs under the new NRL model, the NRL may just become one of the more viable club comps in the world. Nothing outstanding(revenues-non leagues club) compared to the giants of EPL, NFL, etc but all clubs making modest to good profits for its size
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
Let these palyers go. The game has survived everytime a big name player has left and will continue to do so. This throwing money at players to keep them is so wrong The game is bigger than any one player.
AdelaideWill
Guest
Im the sure the AFL would be screaming if one of their player switched codes but Im not sure if an AFL player could play another sport - It appears that one slight bump and everyone is upset
Benedict Arnold
Guest
He might be though, I just read he is now officially sponsored by Adidas. That would be worth a fair whack...
Chui
Guest
Your assumption here is that the player will become the highest paid in that sport. Not necessarily true. For example, is SBW going to be paid more than Dan Carter or Richie McCaw? Surely Burges isn't going to be the highest paid player in English rugby.
AR
Guest
That's right. So if you removed the equalisation effect of the salary cap, the costs to run a club (including buying the best players) would spiral out of control.
Skip
Guest
Sorry, Folau left NRL for the AFL.
turbodewd
Guest
4. The NRL clubs arent in the black, except for the Broncos I believe.
David
Guest
Thats why they should follow the NFLs lead and try to have an even and balanced comp. They have camps on how many times a team can appear in prime time and a guarantee that every team will get their time in the spotlight. But the NRL prefers money to a balanced comp and the integrity of the game and more importantly the fans suffer because of it.
turbodewd
Guest
Fair enuff, but Id like the complete unfairness of the FTA TV situation addressed. The Raiders deserve some sort of compensation for the insane TV coverage the Eels gets considering theyve been bottom dwellers for 2 yrs.
Steve
Guest
Crosscoder, at the moment only Clermont and Tarbes have dedicated academies in Fiji but there are currently 170 Fijians considered rugby pros in France, there is close to 50 Fijian boys under the age of 18 at schools in France. -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
Steve
Guest
Crosscoder, as of this season of the 1300 players in the top 2 divisions 580 of them are foreigners. -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.