On social and mainstream media commentators and supporters of most other clubs have been baying for blood. Many of those are not satisfied with the punishment handed down to the Parramatta Eels by the NRL. It is being reported today that supporters of the Melbourne Storm are furious at the leniency of the penalty issued to the Eels in comparison to the punishment that was handed down to their club for salary cap infringements in past season that netted them multiple premierships. Bulldogs fans will undoubtedly will feel the same way.
Players, officials, members and supporters of those clubs that have previously felt the wrath of the NRL understandably want justice. They remember the anguish of having a season taken away from them. As Eels fans we all know a season can be a very long time in rugby league.
The biggest issue affecting the NRL is the lack of fairness and transparency in the salary cap/TPA system. Admittedly I was of the belief that the Eels (amongst others such as the Knights, Tigers, Titans etc) languished at the bottom of the table with a lack of playing talent, while glamour clubs backed by millionaire owners/supporters boasted star studded line ups that could not possibly fit under the salary cap. Ask league commentators the question, how could these teams brimming with representative players be salary cap compliant? and they will tell you that those clubs manage their third party agreements better than others. Of course this response, while widely trumpeted is nonsensical, as these are the same TPA's that we are led to believe the rules forbid clubs from having any involvement in.
A wise man once said, don’t come to me with problems, come to me with solutions. The solution I would suggest is not an overly complicated or new concept. The NRL must implement a points system in lieu of a dollar based cap. Each of the 16 clubs must allocate a points rating to each player. Every player is then assigned a median rating. All clubs would then be able to accrue a roster within a total points limit. Allowances could be made for long serving players and players who had played junior football for the club. In theory the Players Association should be supportive of this system as it places no restriction on their earnings.
The system would need a phase-in time of 3 years due to existing player contracts and there would be winners and losers due to the new approach during that time. However, in my opinion, a points system would be the most palatable and workable solution for all stakeholders of the game.
If the NRL does not act now to fix the root cause of the problem once and for all. how many players and supporters of other NRL clubs will suffer the same heartache and how many fans will be lost to the game, sick and tired of an uneven playing field?
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Also, who allocates the points or value on each player?
My current issue is what you have written first. The fine doesn't meet the crime.
You have the NRL saying we are the worst 'a stain' in our corruption. But they are still giving us a chance.
Now either they are being lenient or they are overstating our actual misdemeanours.
If we are over the cap this year due to previous estimated TPA deals, then we are not the 'stain' and not as bad as storm or Dogs. And asking us to remove two star players is a harsh penalty.
If we have been corrupt us they are saying for 6 yrs then we shouldnt get the option to play for points this year.
So which one is it?
There is 2 parts that could just be changed to the current system. The fact that is up to the club to report their cap, and the fact that the NRL does not even bother investigating anyone unless they are informed... This just creates the perfect environment for cap cheating.. You can rort it all you want just as long as you make sure no one snitches.
Congratulations, you now have a low enough IQ to become one of our moronic board members, I am sure they will email you shortly.
Going for an arbitrary points system instead of actual money is just not going to work, and there is no way in hell it wouldn't affect the money the players are earning. The RLPA won't stand for it, and neither will anyone with common sense.
I agree totally with this statement, so why go any further? If the biggest issue is transparency... Make it more transparent.
The NRL should release the list of clubs, their current Cap usage in each bucket (as a total figure so we don't find out player salaries) and a total figure of all registered TPAs including a list of the companies who use them. Again, no need for line level detail to protect confidentiality of salary etc. But why not release the totals?
If the system is so fair and even, this will show it. If your club fields a crap team and they only have 50k in TPAs whereas the top of the table teams have, say, 1 million then the transparency would show the system is flawed.
It's a pretty simple first step.
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