Roosters prove the cap’s not working

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I WAS talking with some mates around the barbecue the other night and the state of the economy came up.

A brickie I know, who has always been thrifty with his money, had a wonderful idea.

He said: "Let's get the bloke who looks after the Roosters' salary cap in charge of Australia.

"I don't know who he is, or what he is on, but let's get him. At any cost."

Go to any club's fan forum site and read what they are talking about.

They want to know how their club can spend the same money as the Roosters and other glamour clubs, and yet finish with a roster that isn't in the same ballpark.

Are there really blokes out there so much smarter than their opposition?

This is not saying the Roosters are cheating, or other leading clubs for that matter. This is just pointing out facts.

The so-called salary cap that is designed to level out playing talent just isn't working.

How is it that some club have so many State of Origin or international stars, while others are lucky to have a few?

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The Roosters's embarrassment of riches is an embarrassment to the NRL. Source: Getty Images

Take this Sunday's clash between the Roosters and the Raiders. I was looking through their teams as I sat down to do my tips on Thursday.

If any player in the Roosters backline, and half their pack for that matter, went to the Raiders they would qualify as marquee signings.

Tuivasa-Sheck, Tupou, Jennings, Ferguson, Kenny-Dowall, Maloney, Pearce. Every one of them has played top-line rep footy. Throw in Cordner and Guerra, Waerea-Hargreaves and Moa.

It's a good thing for the Raiders that Jake Friend is still out injured.

Meanwhile, the Raiders only current Origin or internationals are Josh Papalii and English recruit Josh Hodgson. Go figure.

You can only wonder what is keeping all this talent at Bondi.

I know the beaches and bars are great around Sydney's east, and Trent Robinson is a terrific coach. But is Canberra's money really that bad?

And it's not just the Raiders struggling to attract stars. After three completed rounds this year what is most obvious is the Roosters and Rabbitohs are way ahead of the rest — and you have two, maybe three other teams, that can be considered outside premiership threats.

The rest make up the numbers, and the gap is getting wider. This is why something drastic needs to change.

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A bloke who runs the roster at another club we haven't mentioned here was talking me through what he'd be prepared to pay for every player in the Roosters' top squad if they came on the market.

Now remember, the salary cap is $6.3 million.

By this well-informed source's calculations, it would cost him more than $7.2 million to buy the Roosters' top 17.

He said that was being conservative, and not taking into account the real villain, third party agreements (TPAs).

He said it wasn't necessarily teams cheating the cap, but how uncapped TPAs were making a mockery of talent distribution.

He is not the first bloke to make that point this year.

It's true, some players will stay for less to play under a certain coach, or with a successful team to enhance their rep chances. Lifestyle and family are other considerations.

But in respect to uncapped TPAs, while some clubs pull together close to $2 million a year to top up contracts, it's a steep sliding scale and the battlers struggle to get $100,000.

It's a massive disparity.

Should the NRL salary cap be changed?

I asked another club boss for his thoughts. He said NRL rules stipulate when you sign a player you can't guarantee TPAs. Then he laughed, everyone knows that's a joke.

How else do clubs get players to agree if money isn't guaranteed?

But who can prove it? What's worse, who wants to prove it?

There is a possible solution if the NRL is brave enough to investigate.

I was told years back about a proposal put to the NRL suggesting the game introduce a player points system. The way it was to work was the NRL would evaluate each player and give them a points value.

Of course there would have to be concessions. For long service, local juniors, ageing players, developing stars, weighting the relative importance of all positions.

And the individual points ranking would have to be reviewed regularly, to take form into account.

Most importantly, though, the system was designed so that when each team ran out each week they could only have a squad that added up to so many points. To make games like this Sunday a more even contest.

It seemed like a good idea, but nothing came of it. Perhaps some powerful people might not have agreed it was a 'fairer' system for them. And it might not be perfect.

But ask yourself, is the salary cap working today?

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