Are Wire our Storm ?

[Kittwazzer]

Totally agree CPW. IF they get caught, they should be stripped of all honours won during their proven cheating period and made an example of. Noone has suffered under Salary Cap more than Wigan. In fact, we came close to relegation because of it!

But IF they are caught out, let's hope it prompts a major overhaul of the rules whereby:

The Salary Cap is no longer used as a means to hold back the bigger, successful clubs in favour of the lesser ones.

It is organised in a way which the RFL are confident from the outset that it can be enforced and policed to the extent that threads like this are no longer prominent on every clubs forums.

Now that would be a result!

[Kittwazzer]

That's the answer, or a big part of it.

The Cap was introduced to stop bigger clubs (ie Wigan) buying success by shipping in the best players at whatever cost.

That's fair enough. So restrict the cap to wages paid to players brought in from outside. British or Overseas.
More importantly, remove any player brought through from the Academy completely.

Eventually, everyone would be on a level playing field with every team having the incentive to work on its Youth Development!

[pedro]

When RFL okay player signings, they only consider if the contract will fit under the cap - not the actual value of the contract offered.

Take Mickey Higham. He signed on a contract of 30-40K with Wire. Does that sound right considering he was on 75K at Wigan? An ex-international hooker with no major injuries and certainly one of the better hookers in the comp. No other club offered him a better deal than 40K? He was happy to drop 30K a year to play for Wire? Really?

Red Hall are not stupid and must have a fair idea of the ways clubs get around the cap by false accounting and cash payments. Knowing it and proving it are 2 different things.

For what it's worth, cheating like Wire may be doing is pointless and pretend achievement. We're the best. Honest we are.

Mickey went there for 30k He said he did it and would have stayed at Wigan on the same but they never even spoke to him about a contract. He needed a job and has a young family. Wire were the only club to approach him.

The HMRC investigated Wire and found no wrong doings.

I dont live in a blinkered existance just dont buy into every theory on here. 2 years ago leeds were breaking every rule. Now they are going downhill they are picking up on Wire. Look at the 2 teams. On paper we have a better squad and not a small one with increased contracts for the established youngsters. Are we breaking the cap?

[Kittwazzer]

Pedro
Salary Cap is nowt to do with HMRC.
So what was their interest?

[Mike]

Tax loophole to do with image rights I believe.

[cpwigan]

I do not remember anybody even suggesting Leeds had breached the cap. I stand corrected if this is not correct. Saints and Leeds reflect how the salary cap curtails success or at least makes it incredibly difficult but vitally both had the core of their squads from youths or long term whereas Wire bar Riley and Harrison are neither youth products nor in many case long term players. Indeed many are high profile highly sought players that create competition for their services and bigger salaries. Now 1.6 million (IIRC the salary cap) does not go far if you are paying lots of players £100,000 or more. We safely know that some Wire players are earning well above £100,000.

[butt monkey]

I agree wholeheartedly with you CP. Whilst suspicions of cap breaches could be easily made of Warrington - because of their over reliance on ready-made, bought (usually international) first team players. Leeds have produced a large part of their squad from their own junior development (and have done for a few years). So the comparison isn't quite the same. St Helens have been found guilty of cap breaches (IICR) three times, yet they have and continue to produce first team players from their junior ranks. Warrington are a different kettle of fish! Maybe they play the tea lady as their under 20's winger etc etc.

There is only one way for this to be sorted and that is for all players wages to be made available by the RFL. Perhaps some players might shock fans on how little they actually earn Or more likely show the complete and utter ignorant way the game is run from a financial perspective by those supposedly leading the game.

[pedro]

I do not remember anybody even suggesting Leeds had breached the cap. I stand corrected if this is not correct. Saints and Leeds reflect how the salary cap curtails success or at least makes it incredibly difficult but vitally both had the core of their squads from youths or long term whereas Wire bar Riley and Harrison are neither youth products nor in many case long term players. Indeed many are high profile highly sought players that create competition for their services and bigger salaries. Now 1.6 million (IIRC the salary cap) does not go far if you are paying lots of players £100,000 or more. We safely know that some Wire players are earning well above £100,000.

http://www.wiganwarriorsfans.com/wigan/ ... c&o=637489

How do we safely know what Wire players are on 100k. How many Wigan players do we know that are on 100k and Leeds and Saints. Answer is 0, we all think they are and deserve to be and if you believe every article written as gospel then maybe they are.

We have big name players, do you think they are on 30-50k? I doubt it.

All these so called bit name Wire players, how many would you have in our team? Briers maybe and the 2 props would be it for my money.

[cpwigan]

Ah Lee Smith. However, nobody has accused Leeds of cheating to win GFs and I think what was inferred in that thread was deferred payment style contract.

How many from Wire. Half the team.

Cheating is a huge issue in modern day sport. Snooker and cricket exemplify that.

[DaveO]

KW the RFL rules forbid any such methods. However, that does not mean they do not take place. A player as in Melbourne's case might be paid 1 figure on the books and given an extra payment elsewhere by the same employee under another name. It took the NRL 5 years to prove anything against Melbourne and that was only after somebody mistakenly gave Ian Schubert the wrong set of accounting records.

That is the point. All the scams people suggest such as paying the players wife/gf a large salary for a none-job at the club are catered for in the cap rules.

There is even the catch-all we got done with of something not being in the "spirit of the cap". So even if there was no explicit rule to forbid something (as there was not when we deferred wages) clubs can still get done by this rule if the RFL sees fit.

So if Wire are breaking the cap then it's like Melbourne and the RFL know nothing of it. Or Wire are doing something others are not which the RFL know about and which the RFL won't deem against the spirit of the cap.

If it is the latter all clubs can do the same, if the former one day as with the Storm it will come out.

Dave