SA Footy

Looks like w could get our Salary cap test case if Sonny Bill gets his way....

http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/sonny-bills-nrl-legal-bombshell/2008/07/28/1217097150152.html

Could make four sports ver nervous and challenge the whole competition equalisation scheme of those codes.

Could jeopardise the future of some clubs

Get rid af the Salary Cap for sport.

Introduce a salary Cap for Polititions.

Sonny Bill Williams is a 22 year old chump being led around the nose by a dodgy lawyer and an even dodgier manager. If his team of Ostriches get their way the even nature of the NRL as we know it and the very existence of some clubs in the AFL and the NRL, and perhaps even the SANFL could be in jeopardy.

Make no mistake this is a huge issue and I believe that as this battle needs to be won in the courtroom the AFL and the NRL should join forces and get a crack team of lawyers to win this case and thus establish legal precedent, putting the issue to bed for once and all.

regards,

REB

my money is on sonny bill williams winning

Dog_ger wrote:Get rid af the Salary Cap for sport.
Introduce a salary Cap for Polititions.

I liked the Roman Republic's solution for politicians - maximum two terms in the Senate then you go back to the farm.
No career politicians. Well not until the military took over.

The salary cap is a problem for that particular sport because players can leave the sport and shift to another code. Therefore, if challanged in court, they would probably lose.

In AFL however, the players cannot shift to another code. And although the salary cap can be viewed as restraint of trade, the AFL could argue it is necessary for a vibrant competition. I'm not sure a complaint against the AFL for imposing a salary cap would be all that successful if challenged in court.

There's just not the money available in AFL as there is in other sports, and if you allowed free trade all the good players would migrate to about 4 clubs and the competition would die.

Can't see the problem with the salary cap.
None of us here spend more than we earn so why can't AFL clubs do the same?

Adelaide Hawk wrote:The salary cap is a problem for that particular sport because players can leave the sport and shift to another code. Therefore, if challanged in court, they would probably lose.

In AFL however, the players cannot shift to another code. And although the salary cap can be viewed as restraint of trade, the AFL could argue it is necessary for a vibrant competition. I'm not sure a complaint against the AFL for imposing a salary cap would be all that successful if challenged in court.

Well said - that's the key difference. The AFLPA will push for free agency before challenging the salary cap I reckon

That's the path the players in the NFL in the US went down - they have free agency AND a salary cap AND a draft.

The NRL is completely under the pump from all sides at present - it must be one of its toughest periods ever?

hondo71 wrote:That's the path the players in the NFL in the US went down - they have free agency AND a salary cap AND a draft.

And they are the reasons why the NFL is the number one sports league in the US.

I'm not entirely sure Sonny Bill's mooted challenge of the cap is intended to bring down the cap at all. I think he's trying to earn a bargaining chip against the NRL to try to get out of his contract. Something like a "pursue my contract with the dogs and I'll pursue my salary cap challange" sort of deal. It would not surprise me at all if the NRL and Canterbury came out in a few weeks after huffing and puffing in the meantime and said they were letting the issue go "after speaking to SBW" and deciding not to make "a player who wasn't 100% committed" stay with the club for reasons such as distraction to other players, not to mention the fact that by keeping him they couldn't chase an "appropriate" replacement with their salary cap. Expect the phrase "you can't replace someone like that" to be thrown in there somewhere as well. Then they'll do the usual "wish him all the best" garbage and might even leave the door ajar to him returning one day. All this will be brought on, IMHO, by the bulldogs not wanting to burn $450k pa on a player who doesn't want to be there and the NRL not wanting to see it's entire fabric torn apart just when it's struggling to stay afloat as it is.