Stars of socialism? How to manage the cap

There is an interesting piece in the Sydney Morning Herald today explaining the Dragon's philisophy to managing their salary cap."The traditional model for success under the salary cap system has been to establish an elite tier, with three of four stars earning top dollar, a second tier of high-quality talent whose payments are kept as tight as possible, then some worker bees and, finally, some drones and youngsters to round out the squad... But the Dragons have done things differently, with most of their top 17 earning $120,000 to $250,000 a year."Dragons CEO Peter Doust comments."'We have strived for a number of years now to flatten out our salary cap distribution,'' he said. ''Going back a few years, we were known for having a super six. When you compared our distribution with other clubs, we were very, very much at the front end, overweight. And over the season it does affect your capacity to compete if you do lose some of those players to injury or State of Origin.''It's actually a model that Parramatta has had for quite a while now. Due to the fact that we've seldom had any of the games truly elite players, we've been able to stock up in depth, hence why our reserve grade side has won the last four premierships. It's a strategy that has seen us always cover injuries pretty well and subsequently we've been regulars in the finals series.However, it's also a model we're moving away from. So I think it's worth examining in some more depth.Firstly, let's set out some definitions. Let's describe the games superstars as tier one players. These are the blokes who are the contenders for best player in the world. The superstars who can create points out of nothing. It's not uncommon for these blokes to be paid up around $500k a season.Tier two are your international and regular state of origin players. You'll need to fork out around $350k a season to land one of these guys. Tier three are representative quality players - they maybe fringe state of origin selections or have featured in City/Country clashes. You can expect to pay upwards of $220k a season for one of these players.Tier four are your regular first graders. They're not stars but they are permanent fixtures in your NRL side and can easily bounce around to any club for around the $150k mark.Tier five are your fringe first graders or your very promising youngsters. They're earning $100k or more, while your Tier Six players are those who are really just looking for a break, because they've struggled to hold down a NRL spot or they're graduating from the junior grades and yet to prove their up to NRL quality.For a good number of years, the Eels have been very fat around the Tier 3 and 4 level. We've seldom had a lot of players in rep teams but we've had a lot of quality first graders and, as mentioned, good depth. Often our class has come from juniors who have burst onto the season and excelled, providing terrific value while they've been on those minor tier 5 and even 6 contracts. 2005 and 2007 springs to mind with the likes of Tim Smith and Ben Smith and then Jarryd Hayne and Krisnan Inu providing terrific salary cap value.However, I would argue the lack of a Tier 1 player and/or not enough Tier 2 talent has meant we've persistently come up short during the finals. We haven't had the players to make the big plays and those great value juniors have sometimes faltered in the big games. So despite winning a couple of minor premierships, we're still waiting for another big trophy to take back to Leagues Club.In 2008 when we re-signed the likes of Hayne, Hindmarsh, Inu and Cayless to rich deals, we got more top-heavy and last year proved the risk related to that strategy when two of our tier two players - Inu and Hayne - failed to provide value for money and having to fill out the roster with young backs like Taulima Tautai and Tony Williams left us with an inexperienced side that was plucked about by rivals. This year looked to be going the same until Daniel Anderson managed to start getting value from these blokes, in particular Jarryd Hayne who could probably right now warrant double what he is earning this year and next. This year shows the positives of having a top-heavy roster. When your big guns are fit and firing they tend to pull everyone else along for the ride.Next year, with the signing of Shane Shackleton (tier 3) but more particularly Justin Poore (tier 2), we again get more top-heavy but we move into one of those enviable positions where we're sitting on contracts with players who are worth more than they're getting. Hayne, Mortimer, Keating have all proven this year that they will be worth significantly more when they sign their next contracts. Timana Tahu and Nathan Hindmarsh will both be on the front-end of back-ended contracts.All things being equal, we're going to be very, very competitive next year.However, 2011 is going to be interesting as we're likely to have a very top heavy roster. For the first time for decades, we're going to have a tier one player as well as up to four or five tier two players. That's going to mean a culling on tier three and four players, with a need to find value older players like Jeff Robson or more emerging talent that will fit into the bottom two brackets. It's also going to mean relatively consistent churn if these players prove themselves then are forced to go elsewhere to increase their earnings. This is the position the Storm has faced in recent years. It requires very strong recruiting at the junior levels to stay competitive. And the club should be worried about our dissapointing NYC result this year.While the article suggests the Dragons method is proving triumphant, I would suggest its still far too early to make that call. History has shown that its not the club with the even rosters that win the competitions. Manly have a very top heavy roster with the likes of Orford, Lyons and Kite on massive money. Melbourne have carried the most top-heavy roster around with Slater, Smith and Inglis and Brisbane have also carried a host of stars as well. When the big games are played, its these players who tend to stand tall.The Dragons don't have a tier one player, although they do have a number of tier two players on tier three salaries which is why they've gone so well this year. However, I still question whether they will have the firepower at the business end of the season. Certainly Wayne Bennett has the club playing to its strengths. It doesn't rely on individual brilliance, just perfect execution of team plays. Maybe thats the secret to what the Herald described as the "socialist" approach to the salary cap. You need a coach who can make it work.We'll learn a lot this week about whether the Dragons strategy will bear fruit or if it will be one of the star-studded rosters that will again lift the trophy. All I can say is I'm very glad to have the likes of Hayne, Hindmarsh, Inu and Mateo in our side. I still don't think you can win premierships without these game breakers.

"Similar to how Melbourne have Munster, Hughes, Papz and Faalongo? All came through as fullbacks and the storm have fit them in. It's about the person and the coaching. I think Ryles sees something in Joash."

Replies

Budweiser September 11, 2009 at 5:47pm

Mate,I don't think I could add anything to this,well written blog and very informative
David September 11, 2009 at 9:10pm

"All I can say is I'm very glad to have the likes of Hayne, Hindmarsh, Inu and Mateo in our side."

That sums up my current favourite 4 players.

This reply was deleted.

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