AN ASTONISHING 11 NRL clubs could be forced to shed players to be salary cap compliant ahead of the 2018 season.
NRL 360 co-host Paul Kent revealed the stunning figure on Fox League on Wednesday night.
The revelation comes after it was revealed by Fairfax Media Aaron Woods could remain at Wests Tigers if salary cap drama at Canterbury forces a contract backflip.
The competition’s salary cap beyond 2017 is yet to be agreed upon as negotiations between the NRL and the Rugby League Players Association continue.
The big implication of the prolonged discussions is some NRL clubs have been planning towards an approximated 2018 salary cap of $10 million, whereas it’s likely to be almost $1 million less than that.
It means those clubs may need to cull players from their roster to ensure they are compliant before next season kicks off.
“My understanding is there’s somewhere in the vicinity of 11 clubs who are over, and they’re working to get back under,” Kent said.
“The NRL, what they’ve done is put out a figure some time ago of about 9.1 (million) that clubs have to work towards.
“Clubs are now working towards that because some clubs had budgeted on a $10 million salary cap, so they’re now working towards that.
“There’s a lot of cattle trading going on at the moment, a lot of discussions between managers and clubs and trying to move this guy on, players are being shopped around for no other reason than clubs are trying to take money out of their cap.”
Kent confirmed the Bulldogs are one of the clubs who may need to shed players from the 2018 roster.
But he explained it wouldn’t necessarily come at the cost of big-name recruits Woods or Kieran Foran.
“Canterbury are over, and Canterbury are shopping around some of their players, they are trying to move players on because they need to find room to bring Woods and Foran into the team,” Kent said.
“The NRL will give them to a certain point in time, it will be sometime later next year, where they have to be cap compliant. The Dogs will work to be under that cap.
“If it gets to it and the players have been unable to be moved on — this is just a theory — the NRL won’t register Kieran Foran or Aaron Woods or possibly both.
“It won’t be last in first out, it will be up to the Bulldogs to decide on who they want to keep.”
NRL 360 co-host Paul Kent revealed the stunning figure on Fox League on Wednesday night.
The revelation comes after it was revealed by Fairfax Media Aaron Woods could remain at Wests Tigers if salary cap drama at Canterbury forces a contract backflip.
The competition’s salary cap beyond 2017 is yet to be agreed upon as negotiations between the NRL and the Rugby League Players Association continue.
The big implication of the prolonged discussions is some NRL clubs have been planning towards an approximated 2018 salary cap of $10 million, whereas it’s likely to be almost $1 million less than that.
It means those clubs may need to cull players from their roster to ensure they are compliant before next season kicks off.
“My understanding is there’s somewhere in the vicinity of 11 clubs who are over, and they’re working to get back under,” Kent said.
“The NRL, what they’ve done is put out a figure some time ago of about 9.1 (million) that clubs have to work towards.
“Clubs are now working towards that because some clubs had budgeted on a $10 million salary cap, so they’re now working towards that.
“There’s a lot of cattle trading going on at the moment, a lot of discussions between managers and clubs and trying to move this guy on, players are being shopped around for no other reason than clubs are trying to take money out of their cap.”
Kent confirmed the Bulldogs are one of the clubs who may need to shed players from the 2018 roster.
But he explained it wouldn’t necessarily come at the cost of big-name recruits Woods or Kieran Foran.
“Canterbury are over, and Canterbury are shopping around some of their players, they are trying to move players on because they need to find room to bring Woods and Foran into the team,” Kent said.
“The NRL will give them to a certain point in time, it will be sometime later next year, where they have to be cap compliant. The Dogs will work to be under that cap.
“If it gets to it and the players have been unable to be moved on — this is just a theory — the NRL won’t register Kieran Foran or Aaron Woods or possibly both.
“It won’t be last in first out, it will be up to the Bulldogs to decide on who they want to keep.”
