https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/ ... are_btn_tw

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/ ... are_btn_tw

Dishonest maybe, but I don't see how they are corrupt?

There's a salary cap in place for all clubs, yet a select few players are getting payed on the side by the rfl because the teams they play for are at max cap and can't pay more for these players that they want to keep. All this under the nose of every other club who all have to abide to the cap and don't quite have as star studded team as Wigan/Wire. I'd say it stinks a bit and does border the line of corruption....

Definition of corruption is:

"having or showing a willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain"

So you reckon they were being totally selfless in their dishonesty?

Seems odd that the RFL have been floating this idea for a little while as something they are thinking about, then it turns out they are already in place. That seems like poor communications causing unnecessary problems.

There is nothing wrong with Tomkins, et al having a central contract above their club contract, so a £25k contract to play for England entirely separate from their club contract. But the secrecy and mixed messages has led this to look like a subsidy for certain clubs.

Reports now showing this story might have been incorrect, RFL due to release a response.

Irish international Ben Currie seems an odd choice. The fact that two of the 3 players mentioned to be benefitting play for Warrington and one of those hasn't played for England points to corruption for me.

Given the huge sums they have At Bank in hand this is small potatoes for the RFL to hand out, they gained 2 players worth alone just from interest in their 2015 accounts despite giving the fat controller a near £50k a year pay increase (from £209k to £252k!!)

By your definition I still don't see how the R.F.L. are corrupt, they're obviously not getting any money, the personal gain bit, well, that would have to be proven & with sub judice an' all I'll leave it there.

we've been given help to keep hold of Clark who was definitely DEFINITELY signing for Leeds, so we kept getting told last year. Homesickz unable to drive, all these things.

It's a done deal, hates it at Warrington.

Etc

If it's proven that the R.F.L. have been paying certain clubs without the knowledge of all S.L. clubs there should be hell to pay & heads should roll. Also (if true) the duplicity of certain clubs could cause a schism in the league, but for all we know, there maybe more recipients than we think?

Carter (Wakey) has said that he only found out about it two weeks ago.

Nigel Wood is on £200k. Surely that tells you all you need to know about the RFL.

Why not have an open policy on this.
Other sports. ie cricket and Union are happy for everyone to know about their central contracts.
Also, IF the clubs are getting extra towards their England players, surely, there shouldn't have been any problem in releasing these players for the recent training camp, which had to be scrapped.

Clearly, some things need to be kept "in house" but, this isn't one of them.

Yet again, the governing body look very amateurish and leave themselves wide open for criticism.

Finally, Tomkins didn't play for England last season, as he was injured ??

Not that it matters but I doubt the player on one of these contracts last year was Tomkins. He's already been to the NRL and flopped so I can't see anyone trying to tempt him back over.

Also, is an extra £25k really going to change someone's mind about leaving to join the NRL or RU? Figures like that are a pittance for clubs in Aus and the other code.

I still don't think the RFL are doing enough to encourage clubs to develop and keep home grown talent. Right now they have a slight dispensation on the cap but not enough imo. If you develop a player from a young age, all the way through your academy and into the first team squad, they should be off the cap completely.

Just to be devils advoacte... we are criticising the RFL for trying to execute a plan that however much its dressed up is an attempt to keep the best players in the sport.

All this just a few weeks after criticising them for not doing enough to keep Solomona in the sport.

I dont think that that is a fair comparison at all.
First of all, Solomona "retired" from RL to play Union and it was a contractual matter, rather than something that would have been helped by any kind of "central" payment.
Of course, with pressure to sign for other clubs (both in League and Union), he would have needed to renegotiate his contract at some point and he may well have moved on anyway.
However, The RFL still have a job to do in trying to ensure that Cas win their case.

The central payments themselves are not a bad thing but, why the secrecy ?

We have a marquee player rule to allow clubs to "protect" their star players and unless there is a clear policy on central payments, that all clubs are aware of, The RFL just leave themselves wide open to criticism.

They have a habit of doing certain things and then finding the reason sometime afterwards, when they realise that they haven't quite got it right.

Why not get these things right in the first place.

If there are to be additional payments to internationals, then at least have the decency to tell the clubs what the rules are,
otherwise, it just smacks of panic and favoritism, which isn't good for the game.

there is a discussion to be had about centralised contracts for Tomkins, Clarke Currie and Watkins (?) and others.

If UK RL want it then the RFL board should take soundings and then present papers to RFL council and to SLE for discussion and voting. Theses discussions should include the amounts of money and the criteria for such decisions being made.

Instead we have had secrecy and 'somebody' at the RFL given discretion to hand out money as they see fit. Clubs have been kept in the dark and the notion of a level playing field is a joke.

The RFL Non exec directors are there to hold Barwick, Wood, Rimer , Draper et al to account on behalf of the game. Did they know these payments were being made?

Good on Aaron Bower for exposing this nonsense.

Solomona was lured to RU for cash. A central payment from the RFL might have tempted him to stay - we will never know. I don't know why you think it was just contractual matter.

I personally don't have a problem with "topping up wages" to keep the best players in the game. We've all been moaning how crap SL has been, falling attendances, utter dross in terms of quality on the field etc. The fact is, the better players we want to keep in our game tend to play for the bigger clubs. I know people will scream favoritism, the big clubs are always getting a helping hand etc, but just to make a point, the bigger clubs who are benefiting from this, in the main, are the ones forking out £100k a year on a reserve grade to benefit developing players.

What i don't agree with is the secrecy. With the absolute circus with my club, what we need is transparency. I believe the RFL have addressed the issue of player drain with good intentions, but end up shooting themselves in the foot. Just be honest and transparent with people. You're always going to get people who disagree with you, but if you're honest and tell them what you're doing and why you're doing it, people will get on with it,

He appeared to be "lured" into retirement from RL and his situation is massively different from the "central payments" issue.
Solomona walked away from his contract with Castleford and under what grounds could/should he, or Castleford, have received and central payments.
It is a seperat issue, having players walk away from existing contracts compared to players, who represent England attracting some kind of central payment.
Surely you can see this

That I agree with.

So what you are saying is the central payments will only happen for England players ? The RFL have a duty to protect their product. Letting it's record try scorer go to the other code is not protecting SL. We couldn't pay DS any more due to the salary cap - same as Warrington with Clark and Wigan with Tomkins.

We are back to why the "extra" payments are being made.
If we are going down the route of central contracts (as they have in Union or Cricket), these are given to players in the National team and as such, they have to be available to play in those games and give priority to Country over Club.
Certainly, in Cricket, the players are almost full time international players and play very little club cricket (unless there is a loss of form).
Even in Union, "National Service" impacts heavily on their availability for regular league games and the contracted players have to play for Country over Club.
The League situation is massively different.
The international program has little or no impact on the domestic games (unless a player is injured) so, why are certain players attracting a "top up" payment's and what do the clubs have to do to gain the extra cash.
We cant have a situation of arbitrary payments to some England players and not to others and should this go further down the shaft and be paid to Academy Internationals.
Logically, overseas players should be exempt from extra cash as they have already made the move from their native country.

The whole situation seems unclear and it shouldn't be.

Finally, if I was Shaun Wane or Tony Smith etc, I would be telling The RFL that all my players had been approached and request a top up for each of them but, this would give those clubs a substantial advantage over their rivals.

Corrupt is a pretty far fetched word to use.

They may not be very good but any ruling like this would be presented to all the clubs to vote just like the marquee and just like the league structure.
And I can't see them getting any personal gain out of it.