Next years salary cap

[sheridanstand78]

I saw a snippet on the news that today, Ray Dib of the Bulldogs, hosted a lunch at Canterbury Leagues Chinese restaurant and the invitees included representatives from St Merge, the Guppies, The Chooks and the Raiders and these clubs have agreed that there should be a 9.6 million salary cap for 2018.

The clubs that want a salary cap of 9.2 million, includes the likes of Manly, the Tigpies and the Knights to name a few.

The clubs are meeting Greenturd at NRL HQ on Thursday to discuss what the cap will be for 2018 and you can see the division amongst the clubs and the total lack of leadership from the Greenturd NRL where there is no decision on what the cap will be and clubs for months have been in planning stage for next season and flying blind.

This is a total failure of leadership from the NRL and if there are clubs who are over the cap next year, they have been left high and dry as much as the clubs who have so far underspend for next season.

Surely the clubs have to come together and get rid of Greenturd and his committee and get in some people who can make decisions for the good of the game.

This is a real acid test for the clubs because the fact is that year in and year out, ONLY the Donkeys make money and the rest of us get the scraps from the money in the game.

I am really concerned about the future of the game and its viability. There are enough issues out there from low crowds, game day experience, referees etc, you could go on for ages.

I hated the super league times as it divided the game and it's taken years to recover. My fear is we are seeing right before our eyes a core of clubs who want things their own way and the lack of leadership at the top is allowing this to ferment.

The NRL preach equality for each club, we all know that is not happening. I hope this meeting on Thursday is where the clubs come together and act for the good of the game rather than self-interest.

 

[TokyoEagle]

As you mentioned, the NRL is a shambles on so many fronts. They need to sort out the salary cap issues on top of the many other things. Here are some of the top of my head. Please add any more you can think of and how to fix them.

Referees - Start refereeing what is in front of them, not what they perceive certain players to do. Stop coaching players. Referee all teams and players to the same standard (I know, this is not only an issue with the NRL). Use the touch judge as an actual official. This way you may not need two over egotistical refs on the field at the same time (It works for rugby union).

Rules - Bring back the challenge for the ball at the ruck (the ruck is a blight on the game atm). Get rid of the 7 tackle set for kicks taken from inside the 20. Bring back short arm penalties for certain offences.

Bunker - If they can't get it right, get rid of it.

Scheduling - Make the draw as fair as possible for all teams. Hey, you know what, it might even help bring the average punter back through the gates. Get rid of Thursday night games. Play games at times where families can take kids.

Anymore?

 

[sheridanstand78]

We need referees like Hartley who would take no nonsense from the likes of Scam Smith who pretty much manipulate the officials. The referees are coached to outsource their decisions instead of using their instinct, the bunker is merely another opinion and has not eliminated the controversy we see week in and week out.

The ruck interpretation is a joke and the play the ball a total mess, the wrestling that puts players on their backs, defenders lying in the play the ball region are blights on the game, the 2nd marker is never square anymore. The two referee system is not working, go back to one referee and allow a captains or coaches call for each team during each half so that a decision can be questioned and overturned if it is incorrect.

As a fan that likes to attend games, it is infuriating that the NRL insist on playing so much night football during the winter months. I would like to see a model of 1 game on Thursday, Friday and 3 each on Saturday and Sunday with the Saturday time slots to be 3 PM, 5.30PM, and 8.00PM and on Sunday we start at 1.00PM and 2 x games at 3 PM, one on Nine and one on Fox.

The NRL needs to look at why the crowds are staying away, especially in Sydney. There needs to be a review of pricing and game day experience. The food prices are appalling and they should look at giving the fans value for money and where possible play 3 games so that the reserves get a chance to play in front of decent crowds.

I would like to see the NRL give each club regions in the country and make them responsible for junior and grass roots development. Maybe each team playing one home game each at a country venue to promote the game.

The salary cap needs urgent an immediate review, especially the third party payments which is currently so lopsided in favor of about 5 clubs. The NRL MUST make it an even playing field for all clubs to ensure the sustainability of the game.

There needs to be a solution for State of Origin which just makes the club competition second fiddle for six weeks where some clubs suffer and others get a huge leg up with results that punish clubs who provide players for origin.

There needs to be some genuine leadership and most importantly communication with the investors of the game, the fans, we fill in pointless surveys, yet nothing changes.

 

[TokyoEagle]

Pretty much spot on.

 

[midsteyne]

As you mentioned, the NRL is a shambles on so many fronts. They need to sort out the salary cap issues on top of the many other things. Here are some of the top of my head. Please add any more you can think of and how to fix them.

Referees - Start refereeing what is in front of them, not what they perceive certain players to do. Stop coaching players. Referee all teams and players to the same standard (I know, this is not only an issue with the NRL). Use the touch judge as an actual official. This way you may not need two over egotistical refs on the field at the same time (It works for rugby union).

Rules - Bring back the challenge for the ball at the ruck (the ruck is a blight on the game atm). Get rid of the 7 tackle set for kicks taken from inside the 20. Bring back short arm penalties for certain offences.

Bunker - If they can't get it right, get rid of it.

Scheduling - Make the draw as fair as possible for all teams. Hey, you know what, it might even help bring the average punter back through the gates. Get rid of Thursday night games. Play games at times where families can take kids.

Anymore?

Bring back the biff

 

[Harvies elbow]

Bit rich of the sinners/Steelers to want an increase.
They don't have a cent to their name !!

 

[midsteyne]

They need to get the suburban fan base firing again.
in the good old days it was home,away,every team played each other twice.
brooky was always full,as were the other suburban grounds,it was a big deal going to the SCG for a final.
the game is almost f**ked with over sanitizing and gambling etc.
I also think soccer mums didn't help by not letting their little boys play tackle.

 

[lsz]

Onnky the nrl could make me feel any sympathy for a club like the dogs.

It is an amazing situation where clubs can not plan for next year - especially considering how much we hear about the cap being a long term job to manage

 

[Tomay]

Its an absolute mess of an organisation. I can't believe they cannot get even the basic things right. As an organisation, if they were a private company in a market with competition they would have folded years ago. There'd be case studies on how not to run a business.

It's laughable how pathetically inept they are at forward planning. Let's not even get into the lack of understanding of their market or product.

 

[SeaEagle21]

Bit rich of the sinners/Steelers to want an increase.
They don't have a cent to their name !!

They need the NRL to give them an increase... they are the geniuses that signed Ben Hunt for $1.2M per season hahahaha!!!! Still makes me laugh at how stupid they are

 

[Little Grubber Kick]

I hated the super league times as it divided the game and it's taken years to recover.

I humbly put forth that there was no 'recovery', that this in fact IS the Super League, and all the corruptions envisaged (and many that were not envisaged) have come to pass.
What was once Rugby League is now just a golden goose, and it does appear inevitable that it will go the way of the golden goose.

 

[SeaEagle21]

In fairness though, all clubs were told to work to $9.2m. If the dogs and the other rich clubs wanted to gamble on it being higher in order to unfairly sign more talent, that's their own fault and they must pay the price.

Exactly and i'm pretty sure the clubs that don't want the increase will have email trails confirming this and would have grounds to appeal this increase stating that they would be handicapped because they followed direction from the NRL.

Then again we have been handicapped $1.2M and 2 men for the entire season so i'm sure Toddy won't bat an eyelid to help out the Dogs

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

Dib Dab Dob is also trying to save his own neck.

 

[lsz]

In fairness though, all clubs were told to work to $9.2m. If the dogs and the other rich clubs wanted to gamble on it being higher in order to unfairly sign more talent, that's their own fault and they must pay the price.

Agree but the lack of a definitive direction is a joke.... and to think some people think that the nrl is capable of fixing a competition....

 

[fLIP]

If you want any salary cap to work fairly, you cap it at a value the lower earning clubs can achieve. Next seasons cap shouldn't even be in question 3 weeks out from finals. How 5 years of cap rises weren't set in stone at the last TV rights deal is anyone's guess.

 

[eagle66]

One of the Sunday games should always be when two Sydney teams play each other. Why not try to entice a crowd?
4pm games in winter are crap. You start the game in glorious sunshine and by halftime the floodlights are on and it is getting cold.

 

[manlywarringah]

One of the Sunday games should always be when two Sydney teams play each other. Why not try to entice a crowd?
4pm games in winter are crap. You start the game in glorious sunshine and by halftime the floodlights are on and it is getting cold.

Exactly.

They should've kept the 3pm kickoff and moved 2pm to a 1pm kickoff.

They won't as ch9 will want a lead in to their news

 

[HoldenV8]

Referees - Start refereeing what is in front of them, not what they perceive certain players to do. Stop coaching players. Referee all teams and players to the same standard (I know, this is not only an issue with the NRL). Use the touch judge as an actual official. This way you may not need two over egotistical refs on the field at the same time (It works for rugby union).

That is exactly why Tommy's pass was called forward on Sunday. The book on him since that forward pass earlier in the year is that when he runs down that side of the field and throws a cut out pass, its likely to be forward. He was penalised more on suspicion than anything because the replay showed it was clearly thrown backwards but floated forward because he was running at close to top pace.

Compare that to the match winning try that was thrown forward by a player almost standing still and went about a metre forward.....yet it was allowed.

 

[Fluffy]

Like usual they are just trying to follow AFL who started a season without a salary cap.

 

[The Who]

A simple step back to the glory days of RL would be to abandon the Stadium policy (except for marquis matches) and return to regular suburban venues which have so much more atmosphere. Surely the last two weeks, at Brookie and Leichhardt Oval, showcased the sport better than an empty stadium.