Today the Sydney Morning Herald lead off the sports pages with the headline Thurston in crisis talks with Gallop.
This should not be happening. The limitations of the salary cap have been evident for some time. Post super league, the cap was necessary to reign in players salaries. But the strict provisions of the cap are now hindering the NRL in keeping its best players.
Sure some of Thurston’s comments such as seeing himself as a Wallaby sound more like a threat to drive up his price. Given the state of rugby, I doubt Thurston has any real desire to play a boring game that will utilise bugger all of his skills.
But Thurston should be able to maximise his earnings from League which the salary cap prohibits. He is a marketable player and should be able to do third party deals. The fact that these deals count towards the salary cap is ridiculous. The NRL should ease these restrictions at once.
The NRL’s resistance to changing the salary cap is disturbing. It suggests an inflexible, unimaginative management. This is not what Australian rugby league needs.
If the independent commission ever gets off the ground, the salary cap and removing limitations of third party contracts should be a priority.
