Quote: Stormin' Robin "I agree, BUT WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING TO COME FROM????
Sydney clubs are struggling with the new pokie tax. Parra, Wests, Canterbury even Penrith with their hundred million dollar Leagues club turnover are crying poor. St George couldn't come up with a third party sponsor to pay 100K a year to keep Gasnier. Even your Sea Eagles are tight for cash and Max pays plenty for them.
We do not have billionaires falling over themselves to give out money hand over fist. Rusty paid 3 million for 75% of the Bunnies with the fan's approval - so the Rabbits fans only think their club is worth 4 million.
I don't know what the answer is, but open slather isn't it. Open the cheque books, and we'll have a four team comp in next to no time.'"
Clubs like Brisbane, Storm, Titans, Cowboys and Warriors are currently in a good position. Unfortunately Sydney clubs have been struggling prior to poker tax, but now in a worse position due to this tax. Eventually the Sydney teams will have no choice, but to merge to survive. This may be a bad thing in the short term, but would be healthy for the game in the long term.
Currently sponsors associated to the club are restricted in paying players. Only 3rd party sponsors not associated to the club can sponsor players. Why would a 3rd parties not associated to the club want to sponsor players? This restriction needs to be lifted to allow sponsors associated to clubs to also sponsor players.
The answer is no more salary cap and let the teams pay what they can afford. Successful teams will find ways to bring in the money.
Its worked for soccer and now working for rugby. Why not go for it with RL?
