Quote: El Diablo "I'll have a bash at some of this, but will caveat it by saying that it isn't out and out disagreement, because I regard the SC as an imperfect solution for an imperfect world.
Yes, in the short term. Ignoring the inherent instability of relying on an owner who can walk away, there is the problem that actually those other products ARE Salford's product. A 6 team league would be quite hard to market.
I agree. It isn't ideal, but actually clubs like Wigan and Leeds can (and do) invest that turnover in clever things, like development officers, their academies, their training facilities etc. All of which go towards making success sustainable in the long term. Which is actually better for both club and sport than blowing your whole wad on a couple of Aussie superstars.
These are very good questions, and they are legitimate concerns. It is, as I say at the start of this post, an imperfect solution. It comes down to weighing the pros and cons up.'"
I agree with you on the main principles, there, That youth and community development is a priority, that there should be some form of talent distribution (or at the least some form of talent stockpiling restriction) and that clubs need to stop wage inflations getting out of control. My argument isn’t necessarily that they should be removed, as I said before they are a necessary evil, I just cant for the life of me see why the commitment to this cap, at this level?
There seems to be an attitude in RL (im not talking about anyone specific) which sees any change in cap, whether in value or structure, as encouraging profligacy, being unsustainable, and being at the expense of more worthwhile areas of the game. The debate cannot be on those lines, it isn’t healthy.
The very first thing, and the most important thing the RFL need to do, is to remove the power over the SC from the CEO’s. It isn’t right that the people responsible for paying for the wages are the ones who are getting together to decide them. It is in my opinion, unacceptable, nobody in that decision making process is from the player side. The very very very least that we should expect is that the decision on the cap value and its structure is made by an independent body listening to representations from both owners and players. Surely its the clubs job to justify the cap than the players to challenge it.
