Kevin Brown + Salary cap

[Welski]

Has anyone raised the issue of whether or not the salary cap is entirely legal? i.e. does it not constitute a restriction of trade both for the clubs in terms of revenue through success or the players who through the cap are not earning the salaries commensurate with their sporting/celebrity status?

I would think Mr Van Nistleroys lawyers would have something to say if he suddenly had his earning potential capped.

There is no reason why RL shouldnt be successful outside of the traditional heartlands the game has changed and with the summer league it really should be increasing investment not restricting it. I mean its only got cricket to compete with !

[the grinch]

the cap is legal as it stands but if it is reduced any further it wont be that was the outcome of the super league lawyers! wigan and bradford recently threatend leagal action against super league if the cap was reduced ive herd nothing scince.lets be honest the salary cap will not last forever someone will challenge it and will win. when this happens the likes of wigan and bradford leeds will have a glut of money in the bank which previously they could not spend and will pull away yet again.trying to hold back top teams so lower clubs can compete is not a true reflection of the game its a farce its like me saying im a better runner than linford christie so long as he hops on one foot!

[Rij]

A comment on the salary cap to annoy Warrior Wills

I used to go watching Wigan (with Warrior Wills) from 1982 through to 1993 and saw Wigan transform from being a poor side to becoming the best side this game has ever seen.
During this time (as Wills has said) Wigan bought the best players : Hanley, Kenny, Offiah, Gregory, Gildhart & Gary Henly- Smith and totally dominated the game. However as Wigan became better and better the rest became poorer and poorer which led to the number of “close� games becoming less frequent. It was at this point that I decided that I was not going to pay good money to see Wigan thrash teams week in week out by 60 or 70 points and as such stopped going to watch them every week.
With the introduction of the salary cap it has levelled the playing field and brought all of the team closer together, meaning more exciting matches.
As a biased Wigan fan (Wills!!) I would prefer it if Whelen spent his money on the best player (Sculthorpe, Tallis, Johns) and won every game but as a Rugby League fan I want every game to be close and exciting (preferably with Wigan winning).
What do you think ?

Bring back the Hen Pen !!

[the grinch]

i like to watch close games and ive supported wigan all my life but i would rather walk away from the sport altogether if the only way we could beat a top team is to handicap them enough for us to do so! there should be no handicap on any team then if you win its through skill not because the other team had to cut corners.

[Warrior Wills]

Hello there Rij ,

A very well constructed argument with a few interesting points.

However I feel that I must point out a few things!

You only stopped going to the Wigan games because we both discovered the evils of drink and it took longer and longer to get over the hangovers.

If it was more of a level playing field you wanted, and indeed have got due to the salary cap. How come you still don’t go to the games???

I do agree with you on some points :

a) I am a biased Wigan fan
b) I would rather Wigan sign top players
c) They should bring back the Hen Pen

[Rij]

All right I have to admit the main reason I stopped going to games was due to my nocturnal activities and concentrating from more than 5 minutes at a time became impossible.

However, I can’t understand the argument above though as if the salary cap was removed the big teams would just buy all the best players and beat all the other teams every week …. Is that not in itself cutting corners to win games ???

Explain that one to me ??

N.b
Funniest thing I’ve seen on a rugby field has got to be when Henderson Gill was razzing up on the 25 yard line with about 2 minutes to go at Central Park in about 1986

Rij

[Warrior Wills]

Have to agree about the Gilly incident! However, do you remember the Dougie Stand almost burning down against the Queensland game!!!

I tell you what we could write an extremely funny book about incidents that have happened whilst watching Wigan!

Brian Juliffe having his shorts ripped off exposing his old lad!!!
The angle-breaking incident against Bradford (Still mentally scared)
The ring pull off the can
CV
Ding Dong Bell etc………
And many, many more!

However, back to the argument. I don’t think it is cutting corners to win games. Clubs have to bite the bullet and invest or die!

Wigan did it in the mid eighties, Bradford have done it in the late nineties. I know it isn’t easy, but it’s a must!!! Otherwise not just a few clubs will go under, but the sport in general will die. Rugby League gets little to no media coverage as it is. The kick and clap boys won the world cup this year and their coverage is bordering on obscene. League has to become more of a household sport, but this can not be done by not giving the clubs freedom!


Holding back the big clubs is killing the sport !!!

[MOUSE]

Funniest thing i saw was "superman"Kelvin Skerrett flyin thru the air at Central Park against Fev Rovers ,that was class.
Or GB vs Australia at Elland Rd, drunken lion jumped overfence and beat up the official kangaroo mascot,nearly wet me pants!!!!!

[Welski]

Warrior Wills posted:


This salary cap is killing the sport. Some of the lower clubs might argue differently. But surely without the likes of Bradford, Wigan and Leeds the game would be dead anyway. The rugby league struggles already to promote the sport in the first place (nation-wide). At least when Wigan were winning everything, the sport got recognised throughout the UK. Players were household names, and now some players are living legends in their own right, and not just ex Wigan players!

In my opinion Wigan and the game as a whole is being held back!

Am I looking at this with blinkers on ????

Not at all ...It should be survival of the fittest, evolution dictates that to be a success the strong survive and the weak fail. It seems to me at the moment the game is looking at things the wrong way round by hampering the strong and nurturing the weak.

It will take a while and a lot of hardships and difficult decisions but unless the powers that be open up the sport it will never attain its rightful place as a national sport.
The elite soccer clubs don't kill off the weak (ok some do struggle)but on the whole they attract outside investment - the likes of Roman Abramovich at Chelsea for example.

I think in this day and age with increased global wealth and the investors looking for outlets the potential for RL is enormous. The 'product' is there (easily a match for union as a spectacle-I personally enjoy both) but the willingness to take the risk is it seems lacking at the moment. I thought when Branson got involved at the London Broncos it might pave the way- he is no fool when it comes to spotting a potential opening..but it seems the enthusiasm has just withered away.
There are clubs out their ripe for investment but what reason would a venture capitalist have in risking finance in a sport that operates under such restrictive practices?