Just so you guys are aware, we aren't going to win the league but for once we are going to be able to go to games with a glass half full. It is such a great feeling for us, we haven't experienced this for such a long, long time. Sure we are buzzing, but I know that you would all agree that it is nice to see a team given a peg up, particularly after how close we were to going to the wall.

I am looking forward to this season with confidence that we won't get relegated, a play off place would be the icing on the cake. I hope in a few years we can emulate what Wigan have in place with a thriving production line that will allow us to produce our own top quality players from within.

We are buzzing too!

What is happening at Salford makes next season and the seasons beyond far more interesting than had the Doctor not got involved in the game.

I am looking forward to seeing Wigan play Salford next season just as much as any other game.

The current RFL board have a very very big job on there hands to justify there very existence IMO under its current guise.

The domestic game is without doubt in a downward spiral, the clubs seemingly dictating to the RFL, the structure of the leagues still to be decided, RL clubs going into admin or repeatedly having to be aided in some way or another (Broncos !)

The evidence is really stacking up against the current board and if someone like the DOC challenges there authority i honestly feel the RFL dont have a leg to stand on and dont seem to have any clout to enforce there policies that have been amended to suit so many times!

The DOC hasnt got to his position by not taking risks and pushing boundaries so a very interesting time for the game domestically.

On the other hand, the RFL have displayed with the RLWC what can be achieved when they really focus there efforts, but as i say the negatives are really stacking up against them

The Salford city home for the elderly and mentally unstable can't be spending above the cap yet. The squad looks ok to a point but it's nowhere near a top 6 team.

They may break the 8 but if that squads breaking the salary cap they've been had!

Nicky,

Who exactly is saying Salford are a top 6 team?

Certainly not any Salford fans. We know we are looking at 8th if we play to our very best. If you could be so kind to have a word with yourself about where you think we think we will finish then maybe you will see we aren't running round arrogantly tell all to bow before us. We have a long road and this is our first step, thankfully in a positive direction for once.

Having a dig at us (First team average age is 28 believe it or not, will be about 20 when Morley retires at the end of the season) is a little low, why don't you do like most of the people on the cherry and white site and actually see it as it is in a positive manner?

Rumor has it that Meli's contract at Salford is eye-watering. If he even gets 1/2 of the figure mentioned Salford are paying well over the odds.

To be fair there have been plenty fans on your board getting way ahead of themselves. One asked whether anyone could not see you making at least a final within 5 years and no one disagreed. Another said your side would give any team in the country a run for their money. I could go on. We're all pleased you have a couple of decent players but I do feel a major reality check is on the way for a lot of Salford fans. Nicky might have put it a little harshly but he's basically on the money. You should make the 8, then it's a matter of rebuilding again when the players you just bought retire.

So the moral of this tale is, cheating (allegedly) is Ok so long as the governing body is gaining from it?

Much of it will come down to the ability to prove anything.

If 'Marwan Koukash Dubai Ltd' (for example) legally pays Sonny Bill Williams £3 million for "racehorse management fees" - how can the RFL prove it? and if they can do that, how can they prove what the salary cap value is?

Can 'Marwan Koukash Dubai Ltd' be legally compelled by the RFL to open their books and reveal what all their staff are being paid? Can Sonny Bill Williams be legally compelled by the RFL to open all his bank accounts to them?

yes they can. If sonny bill williams spends more than 6 months in the country in one year he is liable to pay tax on any earnings.

Someone should tell that to Amazon and Google!!

Grimmy,


You are right of course, we have some madcaps boasting about us taking the world on now but the vast, vast majority are of the same opinion that we are pushing for 8th.

The thread you have just posted on shows some of the madness. Someone suggesting we rotate and not even play our first choice halfbacks in the first game against Wakey. Some crazy talk going on but you can spot the sane from the crazy quite easily.

Shouldn't this thread be titled 'What will the RFL do if any super league chairman breaks the salary cap?'?

No. Next.....

But why would that necessitate him opening his bank accounts the RFL?

Regardless, Sonny Bill Williams could open a company called SBW ltd based in BVI and is paid £3m a year by Marwan Koucash (dubai) Ltd for Sports consultancy fees. SBW doesnt draw down on that money until he leaves the UK. The tax man likely would never be aware, the RFL certainly wouldnt.

He would pay tax on his UK earnings i.e. his Salford Red Devils salary, which would be his salary cap value, say £200k. The other £3m would be a foreign company paying a foreign national for consultancy services, which HMRC would have no legal interest in.

No-one would be breaking the law in any way in the situation that I described, and the RFL would have no ability to keep track of it.

As long as the salary cap still applies to the normal running of the club, does it matter what offshore things happen as long as we get the best players in the world, who cares, as long as the club is not liable for any offshore activities.

I'd let him off, but only if he bought London Broncos too...

Good luck to Salford and the doc, I just wish the RFL could find another half a dozen like him.
Hopefully in a season or two, Salford v Wigan will be pulling in a 10,000+ crowd.

That's the issue really isn't it. The only way reds will be able to bankroll all this is to get a decent crowd at Barton. What's the current state of their season ticket sales, does anyone have an idea? If they can't generate interest with all the hoopla that's been going on in the off-season, then what hope for walk-up or away sales?

Sbw to anyone else has to be registered with the Red Devils before allowed to take the pitch, due to insurance reasons of the players. As soon as he is registered with Red Devils all payments to the player is seen by the rfl. Shell company's, dummy corporations and all the rest of it don't work. Apparently Leeds tried to sign all their players to Leeds tykes on dual code contracts and then paying half from each, but only counting the half from Leeds rhinos on the cap. They were forced to stop very quickly (again apparently) as the rfl saw all player payments as opposed to just what Leeds were paying.

Should the good Dr re-negotiate contracts with his suppliers, animal feed, vets services, livery, etc then those companies could "Sponsor" SBW or any other player.
A company owned by Dr Koukash cannot sponsor a player.
That's as I understand it.

It's still wide open to abuse.
Suppose I owned a company and as a Wigan supporter decided to give a couple of players cars with the company name on them. Then suppose IL decided to give me some work (not related to my sponsorship of course!!) at one of his companies. Unless I advertise in the programme or sponsor Wigan then as far as I'm aware nothing can be done. What if I own a few houses and let them out to players?

what if the player buys a horse for 50K and then charges The Docs stable 50k a time to service 10 mares in a year .... 500k........It has nothing to do with Rugby league so doesn't count against his salary as earnings derived from the game.

That wasn’t all the players, it was a few who Leeds wanted to play for both codes (mostly imports)with half counting towards the Salary Cap (or a designated portion for each) but were told that all would apply under the RL Salary Cap. I think the most obvious example of this would be Wendell Sailor who played 15 times for the Tykes and in two friendlies for the Rhinos who wanted to sign him for both clubs but his cap hit in RL would have been huge, so he went back to Brisbane. They were never actually allowed to do it.

Your shell companies etc are covered by the RFL’s regs and all payments are covered. However I can imagine the answer to the RFL demanding to see the books of Marwan Koucash Dubai (ltd) or the books of SBW (BVI) ltd being a fairly impolite no.

That payment doesnt go from Marwan Koucash or Salford Red Devils to Sonny Bill Williams. It goes from one private company that doesnt own an RL club, to another private company that the player may not declare ownership of.

The RFL could never prove, could never hope to prove, could never even really hope to know if offshore company A paid offshore company B any money. They wouldn’t really even need to be offshore. The RFL can see the books of the club, and probably the information of the player. They can’t hope to see the books of another company the owner of the club has, or hope to see the books of the company the player has.

Can you imagine the RFL asking Caddick construction for their payroll? Or to see their list of suppliers and their transactions with them?