There seems to be a big misunderstanding by some people of the Fages situation. He has resigned from Salford and is therefore no longer their employee - he is not theirs to swap! If a club wants to sign Fages they can do so without having to have any discussions with Salford.

You were totally incorrect about visas and the Chase signing.
Fages resigned last month and is contracted to Salford until November 2016.
If discussions with Salford were not required I would have thought he would have signed elsewhere by now.
[url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/theo-fages-resigns-walks-out-9813372Press Story[/url

Not totally incorrect, if you care to read the thread(s) back. I said, and stand by the fact, that there was a strong possibility of Chase not obtaining a Visa with the regulations in place at the time. However, I always said that these things were unpredictable and as it turned out he was given the Visa. Things like this are usually on the human decision of a government official, and there are contradictory decisions all the time as it's a decision often made by balancing different factors.

However, I do know contracts if employment. A resignation ends a contract of employment, so it's impossible for Fages to resign and be contracted until 2016. Technically, any contract has to have a reasonable legal resignation period in which an employee can give notice to end the contract of employment. You simply cannot force an employee to remain with an organisation for an unreasonable length of time. For example, those with permanent contracts cannot be forced to work for their employer until retirement. Unless a set period is specified in a contract, notice period is usually 6 months (although statutory notice is much shorter).

In Fages' case, it seems he has resigned on the grounds of constructive unfair dismissal, in that he is claiming the club breach his contract first and this allowed him to resign without notice. The thing with this is that an employee is entitled to resign on the grounds of constructive unfair dismissal and it is then down to the employer to take legal action if they think this is unjust and the employee has resigned without just cause. As a general rule, employees (particularly former employees) have the legal advantage over employers in most cases! The employer can only claim any actual financial loss, and it would be very difficult to prove that losing Fages as an employee has directly cost them financially. Even if they did do this, the cost of taking such action is likely to be far higher than any costs recovered. The action can also only be taken against the former employee and not any future employer of that person, so Salford could not legally take any action against any club who sign Fages.
I imagine the reason he hasn't signed elsewhere yet is that most clubs won't want to pay him during the off-season for the benefit of a small number of games in 2015.

Apparently some are saying the baby that Mrs Massey has had is Carney's.When the midwife tackled it (the birth) the baby got up and started fighting

Are you Iestyn Harris' agent?



With pro players theres not just the matter of their employment contract but also their player registration. The RFL will have to have a tribunal to determine the dispute on that and until then Farges can't join another club.

On your line of logic surely no sports team would ever need to pay a transfer fee.

It's not my line of logic but simple employment law. I seriously doubt the RFL would have the balls to refuse to register him elsewhere as they would be at risk of a 'restraint of trade' accusation.
Yes, sportsmen can give notice as in any other field of employment. Usually this would be 6 months (but of course in this case Fages is claiming that Salford were the first to breach the contract so he could resign without notice). The most recent I can think of was Ally McCoist, who gave his notice to end his contract as manager at Rangers even though his contract ran for a number of years. It's just not frequent.

Yes, Fages can resign. That is a different issue from the rules around registration with a professional body. For instance, there are rules about clubs approaching players prior to certain dates. That is equally a restraint of trade but it is permitted due to the overriding principles established by the professional body. Fages can resign and not be forced to play for Salford, and not be paid. Whether the RFL registers him with a different club is a matter for the RFL and their rules.

You are merging two issues: the ability of an individual to escape a contract and the regulations of a professional body.

That "restraint of trade" argument worked out real well for Iestyn and the Bulls.

Do you really believe that, for example, instead of paying €100m for Gareth Bale Real Madrid could just invited him for a job interview and waited for him to resign and work his notice like a normal job? In fact given the sum involved wouldn't they have just signed him up and said to spurs -tough sh*t, sue us if you don't like it as it was a restraint of trade for you to try and demand a huge transfer fee before releasing him.

Exactly. Just like Bosman a single player could bring down the whole transfer fee system overnight. The reality is that "simple" employment law doesn't always apply to professional sports.

Back OT, if what's rumoured is true, as well as being generally poor, he's broken one of the cardinal rules of sports teams, which rely heavily on trust and team spirit. I can't see how he can stay at Cas unless the other guy is universally disliked by other players, which seems unlikely.

is it just me that doesn't rate him? poor hands and a liability in defence. I can't see a top club signing him. Salford bound was my information and that's about his level

Nottingham Tiger has plenty of form for inaccurate legal advice he claims absolute knowledge of and accepts no challenge.
It is simply not true to say that once someone resigns they're contract has ended. It hasn't ended until the end of the notice period at the earliest unless the employer accepts it.
If NT was right then things like gardening leave and rules about public employees (as an eg) not working for certain organisations for a set period after resigning from their role wouldn't be legal. Anyone can quit their job and start a new one tomorrow regardless of notice. It would always be up to the former employer to sue for breach of contract
And that's before the point about registration. As others have hinted at these things work by mutual consent. If employers and employees flout them fixing it is a difficult and costly process that many, on both side, don't pursue
Never quite as black and white as the tiger makes out

I know what you mean. He's a great finisher as long as he catches the ball. Very hard to stop from 10 metres out but needs good service and is dodgy under high balls and inaccurate passes. When we (Salford) play Cas it looks like all they have to do is give him the ball and he'll score every time. More so than much better players. But I think he'd be ground out if he joined Wigan, Leeds, saints. He's a mid to lower table player I think

You're aware that Fages resignation was rejected by Salford? Hence the tribunal that will be taking place in the next few weeks to determine whether or not there was a breach. If the tribunal are in favour of Salford, his registration is still ours to swap - if Theo wins, he's a free agent but again due to his age Salford will receive a fee set by the tribunal.

Theo cannot sign for any other club until the outcome of the tribunal. Why do you think no club has made an offer to Salford for him since being transfer listed? Clubs were aware of what his agent was going to do, ie resign and go to tribunal (with a strong case).

Sporting contracts are usually for a fixed term. That's the difference. To end it early, either agree a payoff settlement or else claim the other party has committed a big enough breach that it entitles you to treat the contract as at an end, and you choose to do so.

The use of "resign" is just sloppy use of language. you can tender your resignation, and if the other party ACCEPTS your resignation then cool, but if they don't, then you DIDN'T resign. You offered your resignation but your offer was rejected. So you remain under contract and you'll have to come up with something else.

if he leaves cas then he'll probably end up at catalans, i'm sure they still have some young frenchmen to replace yet!

We've taken on our fair share of f***wits for Care in the RL Community. Someone else should have to take him.

People are saying, he'll probably go back to the NRL. Frankly, if NRL clubs were queuing up for him, what's he doing in SL in the first place? I don't think he's all that either. He takes some stopping from close range, but so do most wingers. And plenty have more to their game than Carney. I was surprised to see him making people's Dream Team on that thread.

He will then become the bestest Winger in the whole wide world in the eyes of a certain faux Frenchman...

Are there any more Carneys? Perhaps with Tod & Justin Cats could go on to recruit a full side of them?

Going by what some are saying

Yes. Mrs Massey has just had a baby and they are saying it's Carneys

If the tribunal finds in Fages favour then I can't see how a fee could go to Salford. I know clubs get a standard compensation for players under a certain age but that's only with certain conditions met. I can't imagine losing a constructive dismissal tribunal would lead to Salford being eligible for a fee.