Rugby Wages Post Giteau

I find that Jones position is not only biased by his past but is made up of a series of contradicting remarks attempting to make a position.
First he says that the Giteau deal has raised players wage expectation to unsustainable levels and we will now have to pay up or lose players to League.
Then he admits League cannot match the Union figures under their salary cap system so, for example Rogers toke a massive pay cut to return to the NRL.
Next the concern is "cashed up European Clubs". Well, they have always been there Eddie and players know that they forfeit the ability to play for the Wallabies if they head to Europe.
So really the argument (and the "enemy") isn't about the ARU getting in a bidding war with the NRL but how much do individual players such as McMeniman value playing for their country against a purely financial incentive of playing for a Club such as "English strugglers Northampton".
If the lure of the Test Cap isn't enough then either we need to accept that we will lose players, start playing overseas players in the Wallabies (with all the disruption in player access that involves) or accept the fact that we aren't paying market value for the second tier players and the Giteau deal will help us justify playing more to maintain the standard of our Australian player base.
The better the players the more the sponsors will pay for our product and therefore the more the ARU and franchises will have for payments, it's a win-win scenario.
I think it may be time for Eddie to just focus on the Reds and leave the politics alone.



ARU made rod for its back: Jones

By Jim Morton
January 02, 2007

FORMER Australia coach Eddie Jones believes Matt Giteau's record deal has made it tougher for the Australian Rugby Union to negotiate with Lote Tuqiri and other off-contract stars.

Jones said today Giteau's $4.5 million deal over three years had started the snowball rolling and the ARU now had to "face the consequences" in attempting to retain leading players.

Tuqiri last month knocked back an $810,000-a-year offer to remain in the code after this year's World Cup in France.

The ARU still remain hopeful the crowd-pulling wing will re-sign before the Super 14 starts early next month but it hasn't ruled out changing the expired offer.

High Performance Unit director Pat Wilson today admitted the ARU hadn't been helped by Giteau's windfall but highlighted that much of his contract, understood to be two-thirds, came from third-party sweeteners which lured him to the Western Force.

"We want to make it clear that the report about Matt Giteau money is not what we're paying him," Wilson said.

"That's not directly ARU funds."

But Jones, who has been a constant critic of the ARU since being axed as Test coach 13 months ago, said it was naive to think Giteau's salary wouldn't increase the financial expectations of his teammates.

"The scale's just been lifted and you can say whatever you want but they've allowed it to happen and now you have to face the consequences," he said.

"I'm sure (Tuqiri's) expectations have been guided with conversations with Giteau.

"We've allowed player payments to escalate out of the ordinary and now we're struggling to keep our players."

Jones, who called for the ARU to let go of Mat Rogers when he first wanted to return to league, said it would now be difficult to lower their offer to Tuqiri, who appears out of reach to NRL clubs operating within the confines of a salary cap.

He named young Reds Test forwards Hugh McMeniman, Greg Holmes and Stephen Moore, who come off contract this year, as current targets for cashed-up European clubs.

"Australian rugby has dug the hole," Jones said.

"Lote won't be the only one. I know for a fact there's some young forwards in Queensland that have been offered very good contracts from club teams in England and their expectations of what they get paid in Australia are on the basis of what Giteau has been paid and other players that are being paid."

McMeniman, who is bed-ridden with the flu and may not travel to Canberra tomorrow for a three-day Wallabies fitness camp, has been linked to English strugglers Northampton.

Wallabies coach John Connolly will sit down with Tuqiri over the next two days at the camp for his extended Australia squad of 47 players.

But he denied he would make a point of discussing his future beyond the World Cup.

Among other interesting meetings tomorrow will be the first between Jones and Alex Evans, the Wallabies scrum coach and former Reds assistant, who was a critic of Jones's appointment.

Evans has been assigned to help out Queensland's scrum throughout the Super 14, and will start his role at Ballymore tomorrow.

AAP

Burgs, I completely agree.
And to top it off what was the ARU meant to do? They don't have a salary cap in place and I bet Eddie doesn't want one. So they cannot put a limit on what sources of income players have outside the payments that they make the player.
The ARU didn't give Giteau a ridiculous contract, and thats all they have to point out. Obviously the market is there for players to earn big bucks outside rugby, so all the ARU has to say is, "if you think you are worth that much out in the market then your agent should have no trouble finding corporate backers to top up what we are offering, thats what Giteau did".
My take on Lote has been stated and I think its ridiculous for the ARU to be offering him a bigger contract than Giteau, who has proven he can play at multiple back line positions and has a far greater impact on the game than Lote does.

SHUT UP EDDIE, you tosser...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frontrow

SHUT UP EDDIE, you tosser...

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:lolup:

Agree with all of the above........especially Frontrow's very eloquent post!

Frontrow is on the money.

Non Issue

Unless you are refering to Eddie I would have to disagree TM, I would think it a major issue, just one with some easy answers if the right decisions are made.

Broncos at head of queue to woo Tuqiri

Glenn Jackson and Rupert Guinness
Wednesday, January 3, 2007

BRISBANE officials will open negotiations with Wallaby Lote Tuqiri next week as interest from the NRL continues to increase.

The ARU has withdrawn an offer - believed to be about $3 million over four years - tabled to the dual international last month. While ARU officials are still likely to up their bid to keep Tuqiri next year, his refusal to accept such a lucrative deal has given rugby league clubs renewed hope that the former Bronco is serious about a switch back in 2008.

Brisbane chief executive Bruno Cullen said yesterday he was keen to gauge whether the club would be in the hunt for his signature even with an offer vastly inferior to the ARU's.

"We certainly want to have a chat to him," Cullen said. "We'll make contact next week, for sure. But we've got to work out whether it's a league thing or it's a money thing. Those sort of numbers are way out of our league."

Tuqiri returned to Sydney after holidaying in Brisbane yesterday, saying he was stunned that the Queensland Reds were likely to rule out trying to recruit him on the basis that they believe his asking price is too high.

He was also angered by Reds general manager Alex Pope, who said he could not think of many clubs "who would pay him that sort of money".

"The way he has commented makes me think he is someone who likes their name in lights," Tuqiri said. (Did somebody say something about a black pot...?)

While Tuqiri met Reds coach Eddie Jones in Brisbane to discuss a switch from NSW to Queensland, he said he never met Pope, nor spoke to him or anyone at the Reds about money.

"The only person I have been speaking with is Eddie, who I have strong ties [with] from his days as the Wallabies coach. And we have just spoken from a playing perspective," Tuqiri said.

At least seven NRL clubs are expected to chase Tuqiri's signature, with Penrith officials saying they would be keen to join Melbourne, Cronulla, Sydney Roosters, Brisbane, Souths and the Gold Coast in the queue for the 27-year-old.

"We're always interested in quality players," Penrith general manager Mick Leary said. "Put it this way, if he came on the market, of course we'd be interested."

Asked by how much the ARU would be prepared to up its bid, high-performance manager Pat Wilson said: "We put what we thought was a reasonably attractive offer to him. Lote and his advisers have told us they're looking at exploring their options. That offer's been withdrawn, but we're still happy to talk to Lote."

Despite the prolonged uncertainty about his future, Tuqiri said he still hoped to come to a settlement as early as possible.

"I haven't set any personal deadline, but I'd like to get it knocked over early," said Tuqiri, who today joins a 47-strong Wallabies World Cup squad in Canberra for a three-day camp.