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Private ownership prompts rugby to consider salary cap
GREG GROWDEN CHIEF RUGBY CORRESPONDENT
April 26, 2010
Rally cry . . . the Melbourne Storm fans turned Etihad Stadium into a sea of purple last night, coming out in droves to support their team. Photo: Penny Stephens
THE Australian Rugby Union wants to introduce a salary cap system to stop spiralling player payments, despite the Melbourne Storm NRL fiasco.
Describing the Storm saga as a ''wake-up call'', the ARU will closely investigate player contracts to ensure the five Australian provinces are not breaking the rules covering third-party deals. The recently formed Melbourne Rebels, where Brian Waldron served as chief executive until last week, will be included.
Since the rise of professionalism in Australian rugby in 1996, numerous league players have been tempted to switch because union does not cap salaries. However, ARU chief executive John O'Neill said yesterday the introduction of private equity at the provincial level through the Rebels had prompted a rethink.
''As private equity comes into our game, the prospect of a salary cap for Australian Super rugby franchises should be investigated,'' O'Neill said. ''Philosophically we're in favour of a competition where the playing field is level and where the rich don't get richer and the poor get poorer.
''You have a choice. If you go to a completely open market, you could well find the discrepancy of talent between a rich and poor club so dramatic it makes the competition less than valuable. The competitions that have salary caps work. It does spread the talent and we think the NRL's dedication to a salary cap, though they are confronted by rorting, is the right way to go. What we have in place at the moment is reflective of the ownership of our franchises. Apart from the Melbourne Rebels, they're owned by the unions.
''The ARU currently funds them equally with $4.3million a year, and we tend to have control over player salaries through Wallaby top-ups. But I can see a day where each franchise would operate under an identical salary cap. And like cricket, we would then have 30 to 40 players on Wallaby contracts.
''Whereas to date we've had dual employers - the state and ARU - we may need to look at a contracting system which has a dedicated contract to play Super rugby and a separate contract to play for the Wallabies.''
On top of that would be a licence agreement requiring owners to release players for international duty. Following the Western Force's recent campaign to snare the Queensland Reds five-eighth Quade Cooper, the ARU is also looking at ensuring the provinces abide by the protocol forbidding players from being offered third-party deals to move to Australian provinces.
''It is a protocol that can be rorted if people are dishonest enough to go down that path,'' O'Neill said. ''We have to ensure the protocols aren't simply a nice-to-have document sitting on the shelf, but are put into action.
''[The] inventiveness of people to rort the system, as shown by what has happened at Melbourne Storm, can't be underestimated.
''From my banking days I discovered you can't legislate against dishonesty. No matter how good your regulations are, if people choose to be dishonest, it can be incredibly hard to catch them. Often it is not so much the crime which is the problem, it is the cover-up.''
O'Neill said the ARU was not ''enjoying seeing what the NRL and Melbourne Storm are going through''. ''But it is a wake-up call to all of us to ensure that whatever rules, regulations and protocols you have in place are actually meaningful, and being complied with,'' he said.
''When you read about player files not being kept on the Storm premises, but off the premises in the home of the CEO, that really rings alarm bells. We need to re-invigorate our checking procedures. We are not doubting the integrity and honesty of the people with whom we are dealing, but it only takes one bad apple.''
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...0425-tlqi.html