The NRL Is Set To Have A Season Without A Salary Cap
This is HUGE
One of the big stories of the weekend has been the salary cap, and issues in resolving the amount to be set going forward.
It's been reported that the figure in discussion is substantially less than that which was first estimated by clubs who have contracted players blindly, meaning that there may be a "fire sale" of players in order to maintain the integrity of the cap.
Speaking on Triple M Sunday NRL, Triple M's Paul Kent said that it's likely the NRL will have a season next year without a cap, similar to how the AFL is operating at the moment, with the pressure to come under the cap too much for their current rosters.
"Every club is going to be over the cap, so they're going to have to go to another club, but they can't because the other clubs will also be over the cap," Kenty said.
"The NRL will have a season without a salary cap - that's how they'll fix it.
"A lot of people don't know this, but the AFL don't have a salary cap for this season because they didn't get it sorted in time.
"Where the NRL's proposed figure is at the moment, there's no way the NRL can have a salary cap there given that every club has spent over that."
Triple M's Peter Sterling spoke about the matter after the clash between the Sharks and Knights on Saturday, and said that the handling of the cap has become "an art form" because it's so delicately balanced.
"All of a sudden there might be a bit of looking a numbers and trying to rework them," Sterlo said.
"It might be a physical impossibility to maintain those players on figures that have been bandied about when the cap's not going to be up around $9 million.
"You've got to be careful not to rush out. Neil Henry is a really good example of that. If you've got money to spend, you've got to spend it wisely.
"The salary cap is an art form in our game, and Parramatta aren't the first club to have gotten in trouble for failing that task.
"The smart administrators understand that and they work within its confines and they make very clever decisions - and the right decisions - because they can't afford to get it wrong."