It came out the other day that Luai will be the face of Pepsi for PNG, and there was an interesting chat led by Cooper Cronk about it:
A few things came to light in the discussion where Cronk had the following to say:
“I’m not sure how the NRL can allow Jarome Luai to be contracted to the Tigers or Eels, but he can still service a third party agreement that is for a contract in 2028,” Cronk said on Fox League’s post-match show on Saturday night.
Two things here:
- Cronk came VERY close to saying the quiet part out loud by implying that Third Party Deals aren't actually "at arms length". He actually went on to say “In my last year at the Melbourne Storm…would I be out there spruiking about my third party agreements at the Roosters while wearing a Melbourne Storm jersey? No.”. Oops! Don't forget Cronk that the reason these TPAs are not counted towards the cap is because they're "at arms length" and have zero affiliation to the club you play for. And here you are strongly implying that the Roosters organised TPAs for you as part of enticing you to the club...which would definitely be cheating the cap unless those TPAs were included in the Roosters cap.
Cronk showing all 2 of his braincells on show there. - The Luai situation - it does mean that Luai is going to be the face of a major brand in another country whilst playing for the Eels. This will be when the brand venture / campaign actually launches whilst he is still playing for the Eels. There were reports that this was one of the factors the Tigers were keen to let him go, that his head will be elsewhere on his next multi-million dollar gig.
Ryles responded: "“He’s a pro — as long as he turns up and does what we need him to do at training, and playing and performing, you know what I mean?”. What are your thoughts on this? Do you think Luai will be focused on giving his best for the Eels and mentoring our up-and-coming juniours for the year that he's here? Or will his head be squarely in the multi-million dollar corporate sponsorships in another country that he'll also be servicing?
We definitely learnt two things out of this - firstly, Cronk is a halfwit who came seconds from exposing cap rorting by the Roosters and secondly, Luai is going to be playing for the Eels whilst servicing the biggest TPA of his life that is focused on another country so we need to have those expectations set when we think of the impact he will have with the Eels.
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I don't see this any differently than a player servicing a TPA for any business really. The fact of the matter is that generally the TPA has nothing to do with rugby league, so their minds are focussed elwehere anyway. The fact that the business is located in another country should not matter.
If I were head of the NRL, I would be booking in a meeting with Cronk to discuss what he meant by his third party agreement at the Roosters. If it were a true third party agreement, what has that got to do with either current or future club? In any case, this fiasco has gone on for far too long. It's about time the NRL insisted that every TPA needs to be registered with the NRL and that TPAs cannot be used to lure players to another club, as that puts the club in direct connection to the TPA.
The fact that Cronk was not only not fussed about talking about it, but was insisting and reiterating until he was basically cut off and even then I don't think he realised the line he was walking. It shows how the players (or some players) just see this as completely normal.
And yet this won't even cause a stir.
Would not have mattered if Cronk did expose TPA rorting, do you really think the NRL would have acted, lol. One thing that was reported by Kent, after confirming with Chammas, that any tax free monies cannot be spent in Australia, otherwise it becomes taxable.
Any tax free money can't be spent in Australia by the individual - yes. Can Luai and others pay people to make that problem go away (shell businesses, trusts, charities etc)? You bet they can and they will.
Tax minimisation is a well paid art and there are people who are absolute Picassos at it.
And I agree, the NRL know about all the rorts of TPAs and as long as the media keep doing exactly as they should and staying hush there will be zero investigations.
But it was ok mr cronk to play for the storm for all those years when you were cheating the cap. What about the speed boats etc they got to. This guy is becoming just like hindmarsh a fucking idiot.
CTE mate, they all have CTE.
Cronk mad an average half will earn more in one year than he ever did at the storm.
He can't fathom a legit TPA that's the only reason anyone would complain about The PNG TPAs
given it's Pepsi a multinational brand I would say it's probably the most legit tpa , especially given they are prepared to pay him whilst he is NOT playing for the chiefs
I think based off those comments by Cronk all storm and roosters premierships should be stripped
Yes...and fcuk the 6 agains! it will cost us.
You dummy. Fmd what don't understand about teams who.lose the ruck usually lose in the 6 again department. Do you need it typed out and read to you by Marcia every morning?? Ffs
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