Is any player really worth one million dollars?

Slater I *would* have. His shoulder is gone - that's 3 times now his season has been ended? Hate to say it but it's going to be a miracle comeback if he can last a season.

Difference is out of everyone, SBW would probably be after money the least. Others are in the 1 sport and only have a certain time. SBW is doing this & that, he left the Dogs to try and go bigger. Obviously have no access to his finances but I'd assume he's doing quite well, and whether he gets $500k or $1 mil doesn't matter, he's rather take less money and walk away with a premiership then kill the club by hogging the cap.

Spot on JohnB, no different from rock stars or movie stars. Tom Cruise's name on a movie poster is guaranteed box office so he gets paid 50 times more than Daniel Day Lewis. Unfortunately, Daniel Day Lewis is fifty times a better actor than Tom Cruise but he doesn't pack the punters in as well as smiling Tom. You could argue that the salary cap is unfair since it artificially reduces the player's salaries and limits their proportion of the revenue. A $1m salary might actually be too low.

TPA's are not under the cap. It is not a $1m deal if $500k is a TPA because a club cannot guarantee a TPA. If they do it comes under the salary cap. This is exactly the problem that got the Eels into trouble.

I reckon SBW with all his TPA's was on far more than 1 million a year. He was an international ambassador for adidas.

But make sure your insurance premiums are up to date !

This guy hasn't achieved anything. Why pay him $1m??^*&*_+)_

Option 2 would warp the competition so badly. The Titans would have gone broke many years ago worse than they did. Along with a lot of other teams!

Yes, JT, Smith and Slater I'd happily pay 1 million for.

Intersting topic but made a bit murky by the apparent grey areas of 3rd party deals. Did you notice that 6 of the 8 players that you said are on or near the $mil. have won premierships in the last 5 years. Only the 2 WT players haven't and Ive included Sonny Bill as he would've been in that club. 2015- Cowboys -Thurston 2014- Rabbitohs- Inglis 2013- Rooters- Sonny Bill 2012 - Storm- Slater and Smith 2011- Manly- DCE and Foran 2010- Dragons- Bennett Got to say though out of that group I wouldn't pay DCE anywhere near that.

You run a huge risk with million dollar players, it's such a huge chunk out of the cap. Any injury and your season is stuffed. Smith and Thurston have managed to have a remarkably injury free run; Tedesco not so much.

The NRL has 2 choices to restore the integrity on this issue 1)Publish all players salaries and benefits included 3rd party payments. 2)Allow players to be paid unlimited salaries however the club must break evan after all income and expenditure. The current situation limits players income and forces clubs to look for other less efficient means to improve teams performance such as coach's and facilities.

So if revenue increases and salary caps don't also increase (such that the justification for having a cap and having it at a certain level - that it is necessary to keep clubs in business and the competition running - ceases to be valid) who keeps the extra cash? You can say that no player is "worth" $X - but in what is essentially the entertainment business "worth" is a function of the revenue that is generated, and things like logic, fairness or comparability to other fields of work don't come into it.

From what I've heard, Farah was put on a heavily back loaded contract, so he might be averaging a much lower number over a few years but be making a lot right now.

I agree some are most aren't. I wouldn't pay DCE, Tedesco, Foran or Slater (although it's touch and go) $1 million, but Thurston and Smith? Definitely. P.S. If Farah is close to that mark he's making out like a bandit.

Patrick, I'm confused by amounts quoted as payments to players. Are they a combination of payments under the cap plus TPA or are they the amount under the cap only. When you say that Tedesco could be the next $1m player, does that mean it would have to come out of the WT's cap? or, would it be possible for him to receive, say, $0.5m from WT and $0.5m from Harry Triguboff? I understand that the NRL will not ratify a contract where they believe the amount under the cap is less than the market value for the player. In Tedesco's case, given that he has not played SOO yet, I assume that 0.5m under the cap would not be regarded as "unders" by the NRL. (Of course, if Daley is has any sense he will be selected for SOO 3, which means that Teddy's value (in the eyes of the NRL) will go up. Speaking as a WT fan, I would love for us to retain Teddy long term. As to whether he is worth $1m under the cap, I have my reservations. I don't think there are many players worth $1m under the cap; perhaps Cam Smith and Jonathon Thurston.

What else needs to be accounted for are legal 3rd party deals. This is why teams like Brisbane can keep such high profile talent. A player may be on $100,000 with the club, but sponsors may line up for the player, possibly doubling his salary, because he plays for that specific club. That player may then be persuaded to stay at the club for a low salary, but overall big paycheck. obviously his form would depend on sponsors but you catch the drift.

It's a professional game, so in the long run the cap should be increased in proportion to the revenue the sport brings in; generally speaking wages should roughly follow productivity. With that said all the reported numbers are a bit smoke and mirrors; some players might make a million a year but how much of that is in their guaranteed club contract is up for debate with TPAs etc. As for if players are worth that much of the cap, some are worth it, some aren't -- I'm sure Storm fans think Cameron Smith is worth every penny.