By GEOFF STEVENSON
The Cap and “Moz”
DCE is gone, Foran is gone, and SBW and Sammy B. The NRL is in ruins (again) and will never return to its former glory (again). And don’t worry folks it’s not your fault, we’ve all decided to blame the salary cap.
Along with full moons and Cricket World Cup pool games, articles blaming the salary cap for an unfair ‘playing field’ are reasonably regular occurrence. So it went last weekend when Phil Gould listed the salary cap as one of the things the game needs to fix.
There are numerous reasons cited by Gould and others when criticising the implementation and the effect of the salary cap. But much of the debate centres on the belief that the cap discourages clubs who are willing to, and proficient at, the nurturing of their juniors into quality first grade NRL players. This belief bounces along with the support of clubs who argue that ‘salary cap pressures’ lead to them having to release well-loved stars.
You have no argument from me that it is frustrating for clubs and fans when local juniors move on to other clubs. However, it’s a fact that with good management and a shift in priorities these players could be retained by their clubs. The clubs choose to sign, release and retain players as a means of winning premierships, not providing an employment service for local players.
What also seems to be missed in the debate is the residual effect the cap has on clubs retaining local juniors. Remember pre-cap? Rich teams signed whoever they pleased, creating at least 2 first grade teams to allow suitable depth throughout the season. These players came from somewhere, and most of the clubs who lost players to richer teams had no capacity to fight to keep their local players.
It often happened so early in a player’s career that few really knew that they had any association with their ‘home’ club in the first place. Just look at the clubs who complain about the cap, If they are wealthy you’ve got to ask yourself what their intentions really are.
The cap also allows these less resourced clubs to regularly win some recruitment battles of their own. The thought of DCE going to the Titans or Tariq Sims leaving for Newcastle or Frank-Paul Nuuausala going to Canberra would have been fanciful without the cap.
And of course it’s easier to tell a player that the cap didn’t fit instead of saying that the club doesn’t think he can play anymore
And Moz
Is ‘Carting’ the only Aussie media reporting this?. Adrian Morley played his 300th Superleague game last weekend when Salford played Wakefield. Quite an achievement. But if you add the 113 games he played for the Roosters, that’s 413. And the 47 internationals for England and Great Britain. That’s 460 games. Even for those fans who weren’t that keen on his aggressive style, that’s still something of which to be in awe. Cheers Moz.
