Hey Guys. I read the following with some interest. This looks like it will have a huge bearing on whether players consider chasing the dollars in the ESL.
If we can keep more players in Australia, without having to make changes at the NRL end, then its a good thing! (In saying that, changes are still required to make playing in the NRL more attractive than current. Im all for slowing the player drain!)
The figure quoted of a potential 40% decrease in some players earnings would be sure to put the scare into many contemplating the move OS!
"
NRL player managers are scrambling to renegotiate deals for UK-bound players after a landmark ruling that banned offshore tax loopholes to boost superannuation funds.
With the value of a host of Australian players' UK contracts with English Super League clubs slashed by the decision, agents have been seeking talks with clubs over how the deals can be reworked.
The foreign retirement funds were used as a way of minimising tax paid on the players' incomes and were a major part of the attraction for league stars heading for the UK until the change in the rules.
The rethink is a major headache for several Australian players, including former Cowboys forward Luke O'Donnell, who will link with Huddersfield in 2011.
Wigan-bound Brett Finch, Ryan Hoffman and Jeff Lima are also caught up in the fallout from the tax and superannuation changes.
O'Donnell's manager Wayne Beavis has already contacted Huddersfield to discuss potential upgrades to his existing four-year deal.
Beavis has sought assurances from the club that they will find a way to keep O'Donnell's earnings at the level first negotiated or pay the difference if he is hit by the new tax law as expected.
Other player managers are also concerned about the situation but are waiting for an official notice from the English Super League to explain exactly how the changes will affect the deals for all players who are making the move from the NRL to the English competition next year.
Previously deals were structured with a substantial proportion of players' incomes paid as superannuation and funnelled by offshore funds that are based in low-tax European states.
Quite legally, this allowed the players to repatriate the vast bulk of their earnings once they return to Australia for good.
Now players are staring down the barrel of a loss of up to 40 per cent of the value they first signed for.
One player agent with several players in the Super League said he would be briefing his players next week once more details have emerged about the practicalities - not least how they affect contracts already signed.
"Word hasn't filtered down yet how it is going to change things, but players are understandably worried," the agent said. "We're in constant contact with the English football league and there hasn't been anything from them yet.
"If it is true then we'd definitely be looking to negotiate changes."
The soaring Australian dollar has also hurt players' recent earnings and compounds the deterrent effect for players looking to chase bigger pay packets outside the NRL. Suddenly, the UK is not the pot of gold it once was."
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Agreed mate. And the NRL had to do nothing to achieve it. Big Success! :)