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Roosters set to free up $400k salary cap space by signing SBW

Roar Rookie
25th July, 2020
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Roar Rookie
25th July, 2020
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The Sydney Roosters are poised to free up $400,000 of salary cap space by allowing Sonny Bill Williams to play with them.

The unusual deal has arisen because the man known better as SBW is so keen to rejoin the club he has reportedly offered to pay the Roosters $400,000 to play there. Roosters’ club supremo Nick Politis has explained that just as paying players takes up space, receiving a payment from SBW would add further space into the club’s salary cap.

A buoyant Politis said “It’s not rocket science. Sonny Bill Williams is desperate to rejoin our club during this COVID-19 hiatus in the Toronto Wolfpack’s participation in the Super League. He has chosen the Roosters due to its wonderful winning culture, coaching staff, professionalism, as well as lifestyle and numerous other “intangible” benefits. We’re delighted that Sonny Bill Williams is that keen, and at the same time, we’re thereby able to add a ‘credit’ in an accounting sense, to our salary cap”, he said.

Politis added that the deal was welcome as it will free up space to recruit some players to help fill the void left by serious injuries to Victor Radley and Angus Crighton. “You could say we’re able to kill two birds with one stone, or should I say, two Roosters”, the club boss said, chuckling heartily.

When asked how the figure of $400,000 for SBW to pay the Roosters was determined, a spokesperson for the Roosters explained that there was some complexity involved. “Our salary cap management involves a number of complex algorithms that are difficult for the layperson to fully understand, but trust me, it works!” said the spokesperson.

However, a former insider was able to divulge off the record that the inputs into the Roosters salary cap algorithm were closely guarded, comparable to the recipe for KFC in its secrecy. A highly confidential leaked document showed that the calculation involved inputs such as the market price for eggs, the share price of Steggles Holdings and a special number known only as the “NP factor” which, it is understood, is a balancing figure.

“In the case of Sonny Bill Williams, we used our usual algorithm in reverse since in this case, Sonny Bill is wanting to pay us”.

The Roosters have become highly regarded for their ability to manage their salary cap to produce almost miraculous outcomes, so much so that the Big 5 accounting firm KPWCMG has been in discussions with the Roosters accounting team asking them to consult to the firm.

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A source at KPWCMG who preferred not to go on the record, said: “We are so impressed with what the Roosters’ salary cap accounting team are able to achieve that, under demand from many of our high-net-worth clients, we would like ‘recruit’ that expertise to add to our service offering.”

Sonny Bill Williams

(Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)

The unusual SBW transaction is likely to create some waves in the already highly competitive market for NRL talent. It is understood that salary cap management teams at other clubs are already pouring over the details to scrutinise its legitimacy, with one rival club’s head accountant say “it doesn’t seem right, but we can’t work out why just yet!”

Meanwhile, the NRL’s salary cap auditor was non-committal, saying “It all seems to make sense mathematically, and of course, we welcome Sonny Bill back to the NRL so it’s a win for the game and for accountants everywhere”.

The salary cap has already become more complex to administer, with credible rumours circulating that several high-profile Broncos players are willing to pay large sums to leave the club. It is believed the Broncos are preparing to make a submission to the NRL that such payments by players to leave should, likewise, come off their salary cap.

It is understood the Broncos are being advised by KPWCMG, and that the decision will be escalated to Peter V’landys.

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