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After giving it a bit of thought I've come up with an idea to put an end to poaching allegations real or imaginary.
Any Junior player from say 13's up that wants to register with another club has to fill in a form stating reasons why.
If there is any sniff of any kind of poaching whatsoever then that kid along with a parent, rep from previous club, WA Rugby rep and the person accused of poaching along with his club rep then attends a meeting to openly discuss the reasons why that kid wishes to transfer.
Penalties would be at the discretion of the tribunal which would consist of 3 independent people if skulduggery is involved.
On to senior grade and this would only apply to premier grade players.
Same format as above without the parent obviously. If an accusation is found to be true in that a club approached another club's premier player then the penalties could be loss of comp points before season started ,big fine's that go to junior state teams travelling fund and or coach losing his accreditation or all 3.
If the club that made the accusation is found to be wrong then they are fined say 1000 Dollars to go to the above named travel fund for wasting everyone's time.
Clubs would be forced to sign Stat Dec's with the treasurer, president, club captain,1st Grade coach and manager all putting their names on it saying that they are innocent of the accusations and if there is not 5 signatures on that form then they are guilty of it.
You might get one or two that would sign it knowing it to be untrue but you wouldn't get all 5.
Everyone that brings players in has a stock standard 4 weeks accom, one way airfare,and job assistance Rugby WA endorsed contract and anyone caught doing more than that also face the tribunal.
Lot's of loopholes but it's a start.
Getting whacked for a grand would certainly put a stop to the bullshit and rumours that some people spread without concrete evidence.
I heard a story a few weeks back about another club which I don't believe by the way but that's my point, no one has the right to start unsubstantiated rumour and innuendo without the club being shitcanned having the basic right to defend themselves.
Wests Scarborough 1st Grade juggernaut has played finals rugby each and every year since its inception and continues this remarkable feat yet again this season and unbelievably it's still rolling on and as an added little circle jerk for the masses Wests actually hold the record for the current longest unbroken finals record.
We could always follow what other sports do and put a transfer fee on player movement well mainly Premier grade players anyway.
Scale it as such: Less than 15 games for a club : $5000
More than 15 games for previous club $7500
More than 50 games for previous club $10000
Perth Spirit rep : $12500
A player who has progressed from juniors to Western Force with one club : $20000
Would never happen but would go some way to compensating clubs who get raided regularly.
There are 3 types of people in this world, those that can count and those that can't
this is totally unfair on members of some clubs who may not know what a Stat Dec is,let alone being able to sign one
shame on you Westies!
A stat dec is when you play poker and someone messes with the cards isnt it?
There are 3 types of people in this world, those that can count and those that can't
As a member of the WAJRU for a few years I can assure you the view was that Players are free agents in the off season and that is even stated in the WAJRU or now called RUGBYWA Juniors competition......
In season players need to apply to move and clubs need to release the player but does really mean anything
So basically it gives free range to clubs with influence( and money) to poach kids from other not so well off and influential clubs. This especially happens with the transition from U16/17 or junior rugby to U18 or senior rugby as there are no control or monitoring of what happens from juniors to seniors
The normal comment will be We( RUGBYWA) are growing participation in WA look at the numbers rugby is doing great in the West BLA BLA BLA....
I bet yah if we do a audit of player history then you will find a couple of clubs will be guilty of getting players from clubs other than their own juniors on a regular basis and you will find that their premier grades consist of "other club" juniors and imports and definitely not their own. these clubs are successful year in and year out but to the detriment of others
The WA board supports this because most of the board members are from these clubs and it would not be good for the image to see their club not doing well.
First time for everything.
There are 3 types of people in this world, those that can count and those that can't
Transfer fee is a great idea!!
How can you implement transfer fees on an amateur competition?
No one is under contract, forcing a player to jusitfy why they wanted to move clubs isn't going to help the relationship between player and club either.
With all this talk of player payments, is it really an amateur competition?
I say RugbyWA needs to bite the bullet and get everything out into the open. Call it a semi professional comp, give teams a modest salary cap and let them rip. sure that would mean that the richer clubs are being given carte Blanche to do what they have been accused of doing for years, but maybe it'll also bring some funds for the others to have a seat at the contracting table. It would also give the governing body some ability to control the flow of players to and from teams.
Sure, you bring up the restriction of trade discussion, but I think that's easier to fight than the current mess.
C'mon the![]()
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I had that thought and almost put "" around amateur competition.
A cap on player payments and incentives might work as you said.
Westie
I can't believe some of your suggestions.
Players can play for whoever they like. Players are only bound to clubs for one season at a time. After the end of the season they are free to do whatever they like and play wherever they like.
Parents will decide what is the best club for their kids to play at and if they want to take their kids to a different club who has the right prevent them.
We operate under the Australian legal system where you are innocent until proven guilty not one where people have to prove their innocence. Your suggestions about people proving their innocence are over the top.
I've heard it all before....
Club A says Player X turned up because.... he moved house/ Club B failed to honour some commitment to him/ sick of getting belted every week/ Coach has told him he won't get a start/ He had an argument with Club B's President etc.. etc.. etc....
Club B says those rotten Club A people are trying to poach Player X who was a perfectly content and happy loyal club man until those rotten club A people offered money/ work/ overseas trip with sevens team/ entry into representative squads etc... etc... etc...
PS
Best reason I heard for moving clubs was a 2nd grade back who said he wanted to move from his club because his Mrs was getting a bit on the side from the 1st grade hooker.
Of course the club he wanted to transfer to were the biggest bunch of poaching B##@@ds this side of the Barrier reef....