Longing for the day ...

The Melbourne Storm fiasco

I'm kinda over this already. It makes me sick to think about it - so totally against everything sport stands for. It's a bureaucrat's issue, not a sporting issue ...

Despite my hatred of his Blues heart, I find myself agreeing with Gus. There are three problems here. The first is that the ridiculous restrictions of the salary cap caused this problem. The second is that the NRL administration and processes that failed to pick it up sooner must be replaced immediately. The third is that the current penalty for the breach is harsh on innocent people and causes as many issues as it solves.

The NRL needs a salary cap. It has brought an evenness - some would say predictability - to the competition that has improved it. But it also acts to penalise clubs who identify and develop talent well. The Broncos' long history of letting quality players go because they can't afford to keep them is legendary. Gus is spot on when he says that this issue has highlighted just how far the salary cap is below the cost of running a competitive team. With the money on offer from other codes and other competitions, NRL clubs basically have to push their boundaries to remain competitive.

The cap was designed to stop the horse-trading of rich clubs buying athletes that other clubs have developed, and it does that well. But it also damages clubs' brands when players who have long been identified with certain clubs have to be let go.Think Petero Civenoceva or Trevor Gillmeister. It's also harsh when a club has developed a player from juniors to representative standard at a young age and then has to let them go to another club where they can earn what they're worth. Think Greg Eastwood, Ashley Harrison, David Stagg ... the list goes on.

I suggest that the first thing that needs to happen is a discount for long-serving players. Say, after 100 games for one club, a player's salary cap payments are discounted 10% on the actual payments; after 150 games, 15%, after 200 games, 20% or something like that ...

The second change is that some reality needs to return to the effect of third-party deals on salary cap payments. But I don't really understand the details of this - I just know that it's complex and confuses the crap out of fans (and probably players). Greater transparency is needed ...

I'd also like to see the overall cap raised, but that's not the first thing to do ...

I'm outta time for today. I'll return to the other issues in future posts ...