NRL - Money Bill Williams - A Rant

[Lady Lawrence]

I am so over hearing all of this on the news and now Leigh has waded in on the issue as well. I think before the NRL start talking about banning players from ever playing again cos their nose it out of joint etc etc they need to take a step back and look at ther contracts policy overall. Tey ain't doing the right thing to start with.

The AFL have it right in that no-one talks, signs etc etc with "other" clubs until the season is over, the focus remains current season only and this I think is the right thing to do.

The NRL breeds contempt and lack of loyalty by allowing players to sign with another club mid season, imagne what this does for maorale and team spirit. You are out there playing with your team mate and putting your body on the line for him etc etc and in the back of your head you are thinking heck he ain;t even weanting to play with us any more, he's going to xyz club next year anyway. I don't think there are amany players out there that could remain fiercely loyal to their current club if they are already signed elsewhere for the futrure either.

I don't agree with what "Money" has done, it's a dog act walking out mid season etc etc but the NRL have to accept their responsibilty in all of this.

Despite all the crap with the AFL I am so glad it's the sport that chose me rather than the bum sniffers!!

 

[Hollow Knight]

Without weighing in on the whole contract situation (because I am not up with the complete details)... I can't really blame Williams for what he is done.

In league, a player is only one bad spear tackle away from their career being over... and they have a limited time in which to set themselves up for life. In modern sport, clubs are quick to offload players if they are no longer considered to be part of the big picture, players need to look out for themselves to a degree.

 

[Grimreepah]

From memory League used to have player poaching restrictions but they abolished it because it was too hard to police.

SBW has come out of this looking like a man with poor character (or poor advisors). Good people are true to their word, and when you sign something saying you will do something then you should do it.

If SBW wanted to challenge the salary cap why didn't he do this before he signed a 5 year contract? Why now?

 

[Lady Lawrence]

Brown Dog - re the tackle issue etc etc they know this when they sign to play thugby league, all footy carries risks, Imagine what Vossy's body is gonna be like when he is 50, what are the long term effects on your body post footy, arthritis etc etc, which is why they can demand big bucks in comparison to other careers due to the limited time they can earn money at that level and the inherent risks involved so your argument doesn't wash me me I'm afraid.

Grim - exachary - why sign a 5 year deal - yes footy players aren't the smartest people in the world but they all know what the word contract and legally binding and morally binding and commitment mean!

 

[POBT]

I have heard all the excuses that $BW has put forward via his managers, Mundine and sycophantic journos like Weidler. None of them stand up.

The reason he signed a 5 year deal is because at a young age, his body was absolutely stuffed. He was constantly missing games due to injury, some of which appeared chronic. He took less money per year for the security of a 5 year contract. You can't then have it both ways and decide that you don't want to be locked into that deal when someone comes knocking with a better offer.

The whole situation shits me because the salary cap and the draft are tenuous arrangements, despite all the good they do in creating exciting and even competitions across a variety of Australian sports. Their survival is dependent, at least in part, on the continued goodwill of all the parties. If $BW goes down the path of challenging the cap, there is a chance that he might succeed. Then, the next time a highly rated youngster (whose parents or preferred club has deep pockets) is drafted away from home, he may be able to rely on the $BW precedent to challenge the draft. Make no bones about it - the AFL Players Association has been banging on about free agency for a long time. Right now, they are willing to discuss it in terms of longevity of service (eg free agency after X years with the one club) which I think is pretty reasonable. But if the courts decide for Williams, it allows the AFLPA to gain a fairly substantial legal ascendancy. Guess who wins then? The elite players who can name their price and the wealthy, high profile clubs who can match it. There will be no protection for the developers of talent.

 

[Grimreepah]

Brown's comments on the issue

At the end he says:

As long as players get their fair share when new TV rights deals are signed and things like that, I think we’re on the right track.

I think this is a good point in that there is a certain amount of money coming into the game and that gets disbursed in a certain way. If you get rid of the salary cap then that doesn't create more money coming into the game, it just gets disbursed differently. And if it has a negative impact on the game, then there will be less money coming in, and players will actually be paid less.

I do however think that the salary cap has its problems, in particular the difficulty of catching transgressors. There are a whole heap of grey areas in terms of external employment, shady property deals, players becoming assistant coaches, etc. that it makes it very difficult to police. Not to mention the difficulty of following money trails. We have seen the Cantebury Bulldogs and Carlton roll the dice and have been caught rorting the system, but how many don't get caught? It's not like a burglary where you know a crime has been committed, so this will always be a bit of an unknown.

And if the AFL (or NRL) did ever uncover widespread breaching of the salary cap how would this affect the integrity of the competition? Would it be in the AFL's interest to disclose to us the extent of the problem?

 

[POBT]

I think this is a good point in that there is a certain amount of money coming into the game and that gets disbursed in a certain way.

The interesting thing about the NRL was that after much bitching by the players about how they weren't getting their fair share of the revenue, the NRL opened their books to the Players Association and certain player reps (I recall Lockyer and Mason being involved). They walked out of NRL headquarters shrugging their shoulders and saying "yep, seems like we're getting what we're due."

I have grave fears for the NRL as an elite competition. I actually have grave fears for both rugby codes in terms of the European rugby comps pinching the elite. I am as patriotic as they come but if, for $500K per annum extra in my pay packet, I had to forego the chance to represent my state or country, it would be a fairly quick decision to jump on a plane and ply my trade in Europe. That is pretty much the only competitive advantage the NRL/ARU have at the moment - the ability to offer representative football to loyal players. That aint much.

 

[POBT]

We have seen the Cantebury Bulldogs and Carlton roll the dice and have been caught rorting the system, but how many don't get caught?

Every year several clubs get fined for breaching the cap in the NRL. However, they aren't systemic issues, more just along the lines of having to pay extra match payments to players who they didn't expect to play senior footy.

 

[FattyLumpkin]

It's been major story for too long now on back page of that informative daily known as the Courier Mail. Time to move on. I believe there is something called the Olympics around the corner - just a tad bigger than SBW and rugby league.

 

[Lady Lawrence]

and the icing on the cake? The manager of the French club that was going to pay him $3m has denied it all and said $BW should come back and finish the season with the bulldogs!

Karma baby karma!!

 

[POBT]

It's been major story for too long now on back page of that informative daily known as the Courier Mail. Time to move on. I believe there is something called the Olympics around the corner - just a tad bigger than SBW and rugby league.

They've been talking about the Olympics. The smog and pollution, the censoring of the internet. Oh, you mean the athletes and sports? They may get a mention at some point, I spose.

It drives me insane but sports reporting is now about the controversy and no longer about the game and its participants.

 

[Grimreepah]

Link

Williams is being advised by manager Khoder Nasser and his friend Anthony Mundine, who he defended stoutly. Indeed, much of his rhetoric last night contained the Mundine blueprint, bold claims based on little fact or understanding.

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[Lehmo87]

It drives me insane but sports reporting is now about the controversy and no longer about the game and its participants.

That's exactly what drives me away from the Olympics. I'll watch the competitions that are on the TV but you won't see me pick up the paper and read about it because the majority of it is just cheap journalism. The same goes for footy and its journalists.