Titans tonight couldn't bring a player up from the 20's because it would have put them over the cap. I can understand if it they were doing and hid it from the NRL. But this was a joke, surely common sense should have prevailed - what happens if Greg Bird injures his hand to cause some permanent damage or Clinton Toopi had to play and passed out on the field again/ worst case scenario (which should be applied to peoples safety) died on the field. Surely workplace health and safety would supersede the salary cap - both the Titans and the NRL would have a case to answer for. I hope the NRL realises this and eventually grant teams special dispensation if they go over there squad number during the season.
NRL needs something like the injured reserve lists that most major American sports have. Chuck a bloke on IR & he doesn't count towards the salary cap for this year, but isn't allowed to play again until next season.
The way I read it this week (about the Titans) is they've already used their special dispensation for the cap earlier in the year. I was there last night, to support the locals. Saw Presto pull off two massive hits on huge Raider forwards when they were under the pump. Led his team of virtually nuff-nuffs all night from the front. A champion bloke.
What a fantastic system that is. Say you loose a guy to a season ending injury then you can replace him in the squad with whatever you have left in money from the proportion of the season the guy has played and what you are paying him. Pity ideas like this will never happen while that lawyer leach goose is running the show.
How many players does the cap cover? Is there a set number ie. 30? If so, then why not let the clubs cover as many players as they want - say 40, if they manage to keep within the cap? A club may chose to splurge, and cover only 25 players for the cap money, but it is a calculated risk. Anyone know the rules?
It's a 25 man NRL squad, if they suffer a few long term injuries a club can apply for special dispensation.
