Quote ="loobyfromorrell"All very laudable sentiments, however the inescapable fact of the matter is that the vast majority of clubs (Wigan included) simply cannot afford to spend more money on players' salaries. Many people on here seem to think that if we increase the salary cap level or abolish it entirely, all of a sudden the clubs can afford to match the packages being offered to our players by RU. Totally untrue.
RU, through tv deals, money generated to the clubs via the international game, corporate sponsorship etc is simply is in a better position to generate profit. This money inevitably finds its way down to the players and hence they are better able to offer large salaries that we simply cannot match.
Many of our players and, I suspect, many more to follow, will take the RU $ and the benefits of playing on a truly world stage. Alternatively, many more will not for a number of reasons none of which will in the foreseeable future include better money in RL.
Expansion has to be the way forward for our game. The more people that play our game, the stronger it will be become throughout. Look how many kids are now playing the game in the South East and yet many on here want Quins to be kicked out of SL because their crowds are disappointing. Similarly, in the South of France the game has had a real resurgence since Catalan's formation. More RL players, wherever they are is good for the game.
Don't forget, only the very top RU players earn the big bucks. Yeah, we'll lose a few and good luck to them and we'll also lose a few of our very promising young players, particularly the ones whose fathers are employed in RU which is unfortunate. The young players steeped in RL will on the whole stay in our game and if we can expand the game, improve it and increase the size and quality of our player pool, we will begin to compete on the international stage which provides a better pathway for our young players than we have at the moment.'"
You're missing the point on the SC. If we raised it that should not necessarily mean a club could spend more. If we had proper financial controls then the club would only be able to spend an amount (whether under or over the current cap) which it could afford.
Keeping the SC at the same level for a prolonged period discourages growth in revenue. If the people saying there is no way we could raise the cap in the forseeable future are right then the result of this will be the end of full time professional rugby league.
We need to put in place structures that encourage financial stability and sustainable growth.
Simply arguing for the status quo because of the current failure of the SL clubs to generate a reasonable level of income is not an option, unless you would be happy with a semi-pro French RL standard comp.
