Wait a minute. Did John Grant really say that the NRL may use its fabled marquee player war chest to sign Jarryd Hayne?
Hold on a sec. I’ll check.
Yes! It appears he did! The following quotes appeared in The Courier-Mail four days ago: “That was a commission approved initiative and it is still on the table. Sam Burgess has just come back. Clearly the other opportunity would be Jarryd Hayne.”
I am truly gobsmacked. Or, as retiring Super League player Luke Robinson put it, mind-boggled. (“What mind-boggles me is….” he was quoted as saying.)
One, the entire ‘discretionary player fund’ is complete nonsense. The current administration has already done an awesome job of dismantling the talent equalisation programs overseen by David Gallop with its relaxation of the rules surrounding third party agreements.
Now it wants to further inflate the market by offering some pot of gold at the end of rainbow made of grass with goalposts. What club these lucky souls would play for is anyone’s guess.
But the really insane thing about the idea this money could be spent on Hayne is that he is a rugby league player who left to play a few minutes of NFL!
Not for a moment would I denigrate the achievements of Hayne. I am not a hater. What I like most about Hayne’s story is that he threw everything away to chase a dream.
Now, that’s the thing over which colleague Paul Kent attacked Grant – Hayne didn’t leave for money so why would he come back for it? My argument is a little different.
Why are we so insecure in rugby league that you become a bigger rugby league star by not playing rugby league? It’s got me beat. Two billion dollars for the TV rights and we are still needy enough to crave the validation of others.
(This may seem contradictory to regular readers of this column. I think rugby league should be conscious of the way things look to outsiders, sure. And this looks pathetic!)
Burgess had a year in rugby union. They didn’t like him. Rugby union people reckoned he was a failure. Maybe – objectively – he wasn’t.
But how has he come back a bigger star after a year of not playing? Please, even if you never make comments on the bottom of stories like this, knock yourself out and make one below.
Explain it to me.
And here is the really balmy thing: if you set a precedent under which you give players money outside the salary cap to come back to rugby league, surely you are actually giving them an incentive to leave!
Maybe if you become a DJ, join the circus or get a gig on Dating Naked – just for a year, mind – you can get John Grant to offer you a pile of cash outside the salary cap to come back!
If A) you can play rugby league and B) you do something else that reaches a bigger audience for a little while, you are set for life. We’ll pretend you’re Pele or the Dalai Lama and fawn over you until we vomit… or you do.
Because, see, the less rugby league you play the more valuable you will become in the eyes of a sport that wants to prove it can attract the big stars.
That is, blokes who used to be stars in its own competition, which is clearly not a big enough star.
I’ll sum it all up in just two words: grow up.
Scrum
Guest
I have not even mentioned Union. That seems to be the pre-occupation of others who for whatever reason have to relate any remarks about League to a comparison with Union, Interesting!!
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Sometimes checking ones own backyard helps,to differentiate the weeds from the plants. Similar situations happen in other codes that is the reality. Of course Scrum the continual lauding of a player such as Pocock from various media sections,is not PR work from a union inclined media.Tunnel vision in operation.
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
Well, this time around they paid for it. If Nine offered union that figure & those conditions, would the North shore boys say no?
Scrum
Guest
News for you. channel 9 may as well own the NRL. Nine says "Jump" the NRL "how high"
peeeko
Guest
well said
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
Yet if it were a union player you'd be jumping up & down in glee. Telstra & Channel Nine financed this, nothing to do with the NRL except the fact he played the game. We don't even know how true the story about using central funds to get him back is. Just another media guess I imagine.
Scrum
Guest
I see there was a program on Channel 9 on Friday night 'Jarryd Hayne- Australian Hero american Dream ". Now if that is not absolute vomit material I do not know what is. Speaks volumes on insecurity. Amazing PR from NRL media-idoloising a player who has forsaken their sport for another. Nothing against Hayne for chasing a dream but this is surreal. And Footy players are not heroes . They just play sport well- on the scale of productive & courageous endeavours fairly low on the list.
turbodewd
Guest
War chest?! Why not simply give that money to the clubs equally and let them decide what to buy. In addition, abolish the salary cap. The NRL has to compete against rugby to secure talent, why hamstring ourselves?!
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Keep the warchest monies for junior development and improved infrastructure in regional area's clubs. If you pay some star X amount to come back,his fellow players will up the ante in their contractual demands,and the loser in the end will be the game and the juniors who need money to survive. We have lost players like Lote/Wendell/M Rogers/Folau ?/BWsome returned,the game continued and didn't miss a beat.. IMHO with the situation the Roosters currently find themselves,SBW will be well on their radar post Rio 2016.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Then pray Cadfael,why did the Ellas Brothers and Campese all brought up on rl,go to ru,and become stars in that code.Still in the so called"amateur" ru era.Fairfax was a junior rl player,as was Stuart,Lewis. Because the high schools private or State did not offer rl as an alternative.That's how you keep going and produce players,keep the competition out.That's how I spent 5 years playing ru.Dare not even bother to bring up rl in NZ schools ,that's laughable.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Crowds were/are down in other codes.Gallop had little to do with crowds.It was successful stunning teams like the Tigers in 2005 for example.And the Titans being successful before their Centre of Excellence went A up. And most of the NRL clubs then were run like chook raffles under his tenure.He ignored for the most part the International game.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Because if people are going to complain about the decisions of Smith's administration, Greenberg was part of that. Wasn't his role to offer league expertise to Smith? All the bemoaned rule changes. Greenberg is part of them too.
Chris
Guest
At least crowds where good when David Gallop was head (apart from some SOO).
Wascally Wabbit
Guest
Kdiz, If and when Jarryd Hayne decides he's had enough of NFL, and he's still at a playing age, would we really need extra money to get him back ? Where else would he go ? AFL, Union ? I can't see him wanting to learn another code when he's 31. Super League ? Don't know if he'd want to move to another country. I'd say he'll want to play here, even without the extra moolah.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
Look at rugby.Prior to it going professional it was a virtual nursery for league with Wallaby players switching codes each season to league. They kept going and continued to produce the players.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Granty - hand over the keys to the war chest to Todd, let's have at it.
The Barry
Roar Guru
First the Hayne Plane, now the Hayne Plan. Whatever next? I have to pull you up on something though. I'm pretty sure Burgees is the plural of Burgess. One Burgess. Two Burgees. Do you mean Wednall Salior? If not, I'm not sure what the Latin verb to jump has to do with the Hayne Plan. I saids a lot of things. Don't set your watch by The things I saids.
kdiz
Guest
The point of the marquee fund is to have the best Rugby League players playing Rugby League. The money was offered to Hayne to retain him, and will be offered again to bring him back because the competition is better for his quality of player. People always say another player will step up, but id prefer to have the competition with the established superstars as well as the rising ones, as opposed to some either/or situation. Burgess' name recognition has increased as result of his year away, so to Haynes, and especially people like Folau/SBW who have been runaway successes in the other code. In growth markets and in home ones they add value to the competition. Personally i think this issue will disappear come 2018 with the new broadcast rights meaning top players will likely be earning 1.5 million+ before tpa's and rep payments.
Dracula
Guest
Would they use the war chest to send Mitchell Pearce to rehab?
pete bloor
Guest
And yet all those sports seem to be pretty darn healthy on the commercial front?