My figures may be out of date, but unless I'm mistaken, £35k is getting on for twice the national average income in this country. That's not a bad wage for anyone. The problem we have is not that he's being paid peanuts - it's not peanuts - but that the obscene overpayments of a very small number of footballers, bankers and other greedy feckers have distorted people's understanding of what constitutes a reasonable salary.

Its surprising that if you consider a squad of say 28 with a 5-6 high earners in the 80-150k range, then even with a full 1.6M cap (if thats what it is these days), you have to have fair number of low earners.

Its all relative I know.

And you're right about wendy ball. I remember when I was a kid and footballers had sponsored cars with their names painted on the side, they made decent money but not the nonsense of today. It seems like a lifetime ago.

I wouldn't call the footballers getting paid the extortionate wages greedy - nobody in their right mind would turn down the cash if they were offered it. It's the system that's wrong, not those in the middle of it. I would blame the clubs and the agents before the players

Gutted for him, I really am.

I would love for Wigan to offer him 60k though! Been brought up in the NRL but wouldn't count as overseas... yes please!

Based on the Super League Salary Cap then the average wage for any club spending up to the cap limit is of course £64k. As only a handful of clubs are spending the whole cap the average wage in SL will be much lower than that, maybe less than £50k.

These are still good salaries based on UK average incomes.

How much do you think some of the young up and coming stars in SL currently earn (until they come up for contract renewal)... less than £35k I bet!

A few players who haven't had played super league yet but who are on the fringes and 'stars' in the under 20's are on £9,000

Well thats a disgrace, maybe thats why people go to union, a better quality of life. In Barrow you can get an apprenticeship the year you leave school at BAE systems when your 16 and you get 7.2k a year and get to go to college. Yet you can be one of the best at a sport and you get 9k.

Some of the best footballers around 20 earn around 50 times more than an RL player and which takes more skill? It's pathetic.

If your going to round to the nearest thousand it would be £36000

He didnt play that much last year, so its not much of a suprise, im sure he will be negotiating a big increase in the near future

its his first year out of the NYC being on a basic contract is'nt a surprise and he is negotiating a new contract. www.zerotackle.com.au/gareth-wid ... rity-1711/

its his first year out of the NYC being on a basic contract is'nt a surprise and he is negotiating a new contract. www.zerotackle.com.au/gareth-wid ... rity-1711/

Well if that young star is earning £9k then that is almost 20% of the entire budget for players outside the 25 first team squad (well actually the cap rules say top 25 player earners at the club, but it is generally the same thing), which is capped in the salary cap at £50k TOTAL!

Not sure what the issue is here, if they are good enough they will get a leg-up into a good salary by being in the first team squad. If not they can wait or look to move on... supply and demand!

I’m on the dole and I can even see that this is a terrible wage. You need at least £100k a year to lead a comfortable lifestyle.

You always come across as leading a comfortable lifestyle. I've seen videos of you clubbing and trampolining. You are comfortable aren't you Damo?

35 k a year isn't a lot but it's a reasonable wage.

It should be remembered that although being a reasonable player, he is certainly no Billy Slater or Jarryd Hayne.

35 k a year is probably about right for him.

These are just snap shots of my life.

There’s no longer a trampoline in the back garden anymore. However when they was one I could only use it when the weather was fine. It’s not like I had £100k a year in wages that could get me a mortgage to buy a big house with high ceilings in order to drag the trampoline inside when it’s raining. So I had to let the weather dictate that activity thanks to my lack of funds.

I can’t get out clubbing every weekend like I want to due to financial circumstances either

£100k a year would soon sort that out!

I don't think the world is ready for a Damo with an income of £100k.

Quote ="Raymond Pennington"England international Gareth Widdop is one of six Melbourne players on the minimum wage of $55,000, according to Australian magazine Rugby League Week. Widdop, 22, has featured more regularly in the Storm first team this season, having played three times last season. He made his England debut against France last year, and also featured in the end of season Four Nations. 55 000 Australian dollars = 35 732.5269 British pounds ./news_5777-widdop-on-minimum-wa ... ourne.html Thats quite shocking for a Test RL player to be only on that much money. Surely a SL club could offer him 100K a year and treble his earnings?'" He's getting one of the best RL educations he can,plenty of time for him to earn the megabucks.

Quote ="Raymond Pennington"England international Gareth Widdop is one of six Melbourne players on the minimum wage of $55,000, according to Australian magazine Rugby League Week. Widdop, 22, has featured more regularly in the Storm first team this season, having played three times last season. He made his England debut against France last year, and also featured in the end of season Four Nations. 55 000 Australian dollars = 35 732.5269 British pounds ./news_5777-widdop-on-minimum-wa ... ourne.html Thats quite shocking for a Test RL player to be only on that much money. Surely a SL club could offer him 100K a year and treble his earnings?'" He's getting one of the best RL educations he can,plenty of time for him to earn the megabucks.

Not a bad salary in comparison with UK averages, but let's not forget that apart from the minority who make it into media or coaching, their real earning career is over by 35-ish.

Chris Bridge was on £50k a year while on the fringes at Bradford. For an England international, £35k is much lower than you'd expect.

From what my friends in Melbourne tell me £36k goes a lot further here than it does down there. Mainly due to the very strong Australian Dollar at the moment.

So it’s not just the development of rugby league that goes further over in Australia.

Thought he hailed from 'Fax, not Hull?

It did read 'a nice pay rise.'

Not sure what happened there.

iPhone squire?

T'was indeed.

All this talk of patties has got me craving a 'proper' chippy!

Wait a second, 35k not a great wage? I'm on half of that working nights doing a job I really wish I wasn't. This lad is getting paid to go keep fit, play a sport he enjoys playing while hanging around with his mates. He gets plenty of time off over the year and for those that say "but it's a short career" I would love to do a dream job for half my working life that could potentially get me a decent career for the rest of it doing some form of coaching or training.

For a 22yr old 35k is a lot no matter where he lives and he should be happy to be earning that knowing he is going to be paid a whole lot more the harder he works and the better he gets.

My mother works as a manager within cancer research and earns less than this amount, she is in her 50's and this is the best wage she has been on. My father a warehouse manager and belting engineer earns approx 10k less than Widdop again in his 50's. They both work longer hours with much less down time than Gareth gets.

Some of you may think 35k isn't worth getting out of bed for but the majority of people especially in the north that wage would be a dream.

With average house prices in Melbourne being around the $565k+ mark, his salary wont go that far. You could buy half of Salford for that !