Gus sounds ridiculous here. He can hardly talk with the Bulldogs swooping in and taking alot of Penrith’s and other clubs homegrown talent, look at their team for next year for gods sakes. Imagine trying to say that players should have to pack up their lives and their families and be forced to play for whoever will bid the most for them like a slave trade. “The current system gives all the power to the player” yeah, almost like they’re the ones out there every single weekend and training session putting their bodies on the line ay Gus? Of course they should have the power to decide where they want to play! He’s had some bad takes but this one’s right up there.
I'm with you mate. Gus seems to think the modern player is soft. She's just saying what a typical club administration would about the issue. Drafts are symbolic of a league controlled down to the Nth degree by the administration, and in the end you'll have a fragmented product that's designed to simply make advertising cash like NFL.
Despite Gals interrupting, he is right. Why should you go to the highest bidder if you don’t want to play there. Then you have a player playing for you that doesn’t want to be with you. Dumb
I think the option should be open to all clubs who want to bid. Then the player can pick and choose were they want to go... obviously if a club knows that a player wants to go to their club they will potentially bid lower... may even out the playing field to reserve morales for both players and the clubs
Because the idea of a salary cap league is to have parity between teams. Also a draft is for the young developing players, even in a draft system, older, experienced players on their 2nd or 3rd contracts could move to where they want, just like now. The main difference is young developing talent would be spread around the clubs.
Gal is right here. If players dont want to move, it’s their choice dont force them. Also dont force having a draft as well! Young kids have dreams playing for their favourite club and a draft will kill their dreams
if your employer says the job is in a different town and a different department, you either go where your told or you find a new job. No different for the players. It was my dream to work on a tropical island with unlimited funds. We all have our dreams killed, it's called life.
I grow up supporting the Roosters and am good enough to play NRL but they don't draft me and the Broncos do because they like me as a player and want me involved with their Club. I say "no thank you, I grew up a Rooster and although they didn't pick me, I would rather not play NRL and sit at home and just be a Roosters fan"... Is that what we are sticking with??
It matters a lot to play for your child hood team, but don’t get it twisted, making the league means so much more then ending up at your favourite club. You can always transfer or decide to leave down the line in your career. Making the league is top priority
Players leave their "dream" clubs all the time to take up starting postions, or simply positions in the top 30 at a club when they are outside it. A draft simply spreads the talent around the league, and doesnt allow teams to horde talent.
If a player comes through the clubs juniors for last 5+ years or a player has played over 200 games for one club they should have atleast a 50% concession from salary cap. LOYALTY SHOULD BE REWARDED NOT PENALISED
Gal inadvertently Roasting the NRL by saying Jack wighton should go to a crap team because he's a good player just got me choking on my sandwich with laughter
I see that having players signed a year in advance can be frustrating to clubs and fans, and I get the system might need a bit of an overhaul. I don't see how what Gus is suggesting changes much. A draft could be used, like it is in other sports, for rookies coming into the League if the NRL was in charge of development (so that individual clubs who are far more involved in junior pathways aren't out of pocket for doing so). That could be effective for spreading rookie talent throughout the comp. But how are you going to have a similar system for more experienced players? Are you really going to stop players from joining teams that have proven themselves competent? Yes, poor performing clubs don't get a look in at the moment for the best players, but isn't that fair enough? Good clubs are rewarded by being able to sign better players, because players know they will have a more fulfilling career there. They also lose out because less competent teams poach all their best talent once they can't fit all their top players in the cap - even in cases where they developed most of them. It's not like the Top 8 isn't fairly fluid, while we often see the usual faces like Rabbits and Roosters you often get teams coming out of nowhere into the 8 or dropping out of it. I think the current system is just fine as long as 3rd party deals are properly investigated and eradicated - I think we all know there are perks for some of the richer Sydney teams that evade the salary cap, but tweaking the transfer window isn't a fix for that.
I mean Gus also holds a senior executive position with an NRL team. Hasn’t he signed a whole bunch of players in this very way? Or does it work for him because like he says “the player should go to the highest bidder”?
If you're working within a flawed system, then you should still maximise the benefits from it otherwise you are disadvantaging your club. You can still call out that the system that they all play by is broken and want to change it.
Exactly this way. He couldn’t even get a graphic artist to photoshop a polo shirt on Kikau. And as he pointed out there wasn’t an opportunity to take pics later in the yr. Players have other commitments after the season is done and the prospect of relocating entire families at short notice has to be considered, too.
Gal understands. He remained with the Sharks for many years before they finally won a premiership. I'm sure he was hit up by many clubs and is defending the right for a player to have that decision.
omg gus just lost me when he said he shouldnt have a choice and should go to the highest bidder lmfao, so where has the uproar been when players take pay cuts to stay at their club?
Draft works in NFL, NBA, MLB because there are no other options for a player. Players here have the option of many Union comps around the world and ESL where they can potentially earn more money.
Maybe not a draft, but an offseason period where players make their off-season decision could work like how it is in the NBA. Rookies would still be brought up with their respective teams, but It would be nice to not have all this signing drama in the middle of the season. Players off contract would have a period in the off-season to make their decision for next year.
Cant think of one professional league that has a "player draft" that includes already registered players.....every draft i know of is all external or unregistered players, anyone able to elaborate on Gus's comment?
It's a ridiculous idea that doesn't exist anywhere in the sporting world. The only analogy you could make is with leagues like the NBA where you can 'trade' players, but that's the only situation I know of where players can be sent to another team without their approval.
@@khanager2814 But again thats trades, not a "draft" where players looking to go to another team need to register and the highest bidder wins. That doesnt exist anywhere in the world im aware of, they just sign with the team they want to go to. Trades make sense, and should be part of any professional league. It suprises me that the NRL doesnt have it - atm there is no way for a club to reduce the impact of poorly performing players, or disgruntled players, or seeking to better there financial impact without just keeping the player and just not playing them.
@@Vydru23 being traded when you do not want to move is a problem. The point is to register that you are happy to move your life and start fresh somewhere else.
@@furyau1 its only a problem it seems in the NRL, every other professional sport has a trade system, and it works for both player and owners (teams) alike.
A draft is not the idea. I think clubs should be allowed to have salary cap concessions for players they have brought up through their development pathway. That leaves the opportunity for a one club player to exist and build more of a dedicated fan base. It would also encourage NRL teams to invest in junior development heavily.
Gus's proposed system is absolutely crap! Players either leave for more money or actually want to win... that's it... There should be a free agency period at the end of the season for players off contract and players who've declined their player option, just like Wighton.. in that period, they negotiate and sign with their new club.. The midseason signings to different clubs need to stop.. and the only midseason signings that should happen is when a club agrees to extend a player's contract..
I think the option should be open to all clubs who want to bid. Then the player can pick and choose were they want to go... obviously if a club knows that a player wants to go to their club they will potentially bid lower... may even out the playing field to reserve morales for both players and the clubs
Draft makes sense, but the football transfer periods of mid season and off season like they have in Europe is the better option with the player moving immediately after signing a new contract.
Gus is such a hypocrite. The cap provides balance in the market which negates sheer greed as the greatest motivator to success and the teams that profit most are those with the best development and shrewdest coaches.
Except teams like the Tigers have to pay 30% more to try and convince a player to stay or come over if they can so the cap is meaningless. When we have teams that stay at the bottom of the league for years fans move on and the league shrinks. Gus is right, we need a long term vision with the comp
@@Nylandersaraus1 yeah they need a draft for people coming into the league, but not for people already in the league that’s ridiculous. It just becomes a slave market at that point, players being forced to pack up their lives and families and go and play for the highest bidder.
@JW So players put their body’s on the line week after week and we’re going to sit here and say that they can’t choose where they want to play after their contract is up? That if they’ve developed themselves and worked on their craft to the point where they’re good enough that multiple clubs are chasing them, that they’re to just be forced to go and play for whoever bids the most money? I don’t understand how people aren’t seeing how ridiculous that idea is. If you’re under contract working for a company and the contract finishes, should other companies have the right to just put up cash and force you to go and work for them? Potentially having to move yourself and your family to a completely different part of the country? No. So why is it any different here?
The nrl market isn’t the same as the open market but it’s insane to suggest that you should HAVE to go work for someone because they offered you a greater salary. There’s more than one reason to take a pay cut somewhere else.
Issue is NRL isn’t big enough for draft and we need to prioritize the players otherwise players will not want to play NRL full stop. Gal is right, more power to players because atm NRL isn’t bigger then it’s players.
Jack wanted to play with his mates and if he can, good luck to him. Melbourne Storm was allowed to keep their best players for a long time so why not anyone else. Any system that makes you play somewhere you don't want to be will turn the players against the NRL. The only reason it's a circus is because Gus can't claim he is responsible for how good the game is at the moment. It's a great product, the NRL are doing a very good job.
Yet the Storm have given up so many world class players but that's OK cause it's a NSW dominated system. What team in the last ten years have lost the quality of players the Storm has? The answer...none. Salary cap decides we can't keep them but to have everyone bitching about one playr leaving makes me laugh. Here's an idea..how about you create a culture where it's worth staying and fight for your spot. That's what seperates the good from the bad. Too many players are sooks and don't work hard enough but want the big dollars. The Storm take your rejects and show them hard work and culture makes a player not cash and mates
@Grant Mcaskell the Storm also picks players who all come from grassroots systems outside of Melbourne/Victoria, often initially channelled into NSW & QLD NRL clubs. So I can't see you having a clinical correctness.
@Cameron Johns true bit we're not talking about salary cap cheating here. We're talking about losing Wighton whilst he's a good player he's no Cooper Cronk
Simple Solution here Transfer window between October after the grand final and 2 weeks before the season starts, thats 5 and a bit months to sort out all signings and releases An exception to releasing someone early to the superleague, thus denying another nrl team to swap a player to Its been dumb to have players change teams mid season
I agree with Gus to the point where there should be a system in place that should say when a player can start looking for other options than to stay at a club. Signing to a new club for whatever reason during the first quarter/half of the season regardless of the current contract can raise issues for the club, teammates and coaches, professionally, and as we have seen recently, emotionally. It "can" cause a blindness in judgement and professionalism within how a player can play during the rest of their season, or how a coach can form the team. However, I do agree with Gal that all power should be to the player. If a player wants to choose to go to a different club for a particular reason, whether it be to win a premiership, to play in a different city, broaden experiences, whatever, then that should be up to the player. They should have full control over where they want to go, regardless of money, so long as they uphold their current contract. They are choosing to play at a club for less money than resigning for more. That should say enough about the player's motive, and should be supported and approved, rather than condemned. I think this whole topic would not be talked about if it hadn't been a huge player like Jack Wighton, who has been at the Raiders for over a decade, had won many awards and had represented his state and country. The man wants to do something different in his career. He has proven himself multiple times that he is a valuable player and asset, and wants to join a team that he believes can finally let him achieve his goals. Why not let him?
I think what Gus is talking here would be classed as a restriction of trade and would be challenged by the players as Gal said and would be illegal. You can't force someone to sign a contract they don't agree to.
I hate when Gus says the draft is used "all around the world" when its used pretty much exclusively in North America with the exception of the AFL, KHL (Russian Hockey League), IPL (Indian Premier League Cricket) and the only reason the draft exists in American sports is because of the NCAA and the prominence of collegiate sports and the pathway to professional sports, plus America loves anything they can televise pump full of ads and make a load of money on. there's nothing wrong with the current system but if they were to change it I'd rather see it go the direction of the EPL (soccer) where there's no salary cap and players garner a transfer fee to go between clubs and there is FFP (financial fair play) to stop clubs from just spending money in an unsustainable way... at least that way clubs will be rewarded for growing their own talent.
A draft only really works for a national sport like the AFL but it comes with all sorts of concessions like sydney getting a salary cap concession because of the higher cost of living. Clubs like the warriors would suffer because there is no guarantee that they will keep their best players and australian players would never go across plus a draft for registered players would almost be a restraint of trade. If i live and play in the eastern suburbs or the gold coast i wouldnt want to move to canberra or auckland.
Gal winner by knockout in this argument. Why though are they talking about an American system when clearly the best method is the EPL transfer system. Two windows a year and clubs are compensated if another players contract wants to be brought out. If a player is off contract it's open game. Clubs should also be given a 10% salary cap discount on the player if they blood a junior and this goes up 5% every five years to reward and encourage loyalty.
The easiest solution, and the one that will grow the game, is to put in a sizeable cap concession for club juniors. Start it at a 50% discount on the cap for players under 21 then lower it a little after they reach 21 or play 50 games (whichever comes first).
Runs into a few issues unfortunately. (1) Some clubs are geographically just better suited to junior development. Not saying that guarantees a club is good at it, but it is the reality - Penrith has a tonne of feeder clubs, Roosters have almost none. (2) I don't see how this does anything to fix parity in the comp. Given Wighton is the one who sparked this whole debate, we'll use him as an example. He chose less money to move to a premiership contender. I actually agree with you and think it's a good idea, but it actually probably WORSENS the issue they're talking about here, which is the bottom clubs not being able to attract players.
Rugby Union has killed itself when: 1. Kills the local traditional grass-roots 2. Kills the traditional local rivalries 3. Kills the connection between community, locality and loyalty and representing your people (not your commerce and brand and marketing and franchise) Heed these words well, NRL. Australia has a penchant to follow the USA eg excess advertising etc but the Aussies being small fish in the world pond ends up being better for your own local sports and rivalries and traditions that makes you Aussies...
I'm glad Lebron James made a difference in the NBA with players choosing where to go, it's amazing how lopsided this is because if a club is "done" with you they just kick you to the curb and you're on your own but my god if you leave all hell breaks loose and you are called selfish
I think a player should not be allowed to negotiate with any team until the season is over., and only if their contract ends that year, no signing with a year still left on their contract. And player managers should not be allowed to have more than 3 players on their books as they hold too much power with having over 5 players at a club they can manipulate that club. That leaves 3 or so months to sign players before they start pre-season come January (yes I know some teams start before that) that way it will keep it fairer than it is now.
I know this would take years to plan out and obviously a lot of things would need to fall in line to make it work, but why don't we adopt a draft system similar to America and use Universities to be apart of these development squads. Barely ever see articles around NSW cup besides when an NRL players gets put their for a game or 2 besides the North Bears being close to home I've never heard anyone talking about an experience or any excitement around NSW Cup
because it will cost allot of money. The NRL makes significantly less money than the NBA for example. Our highest NRL stars get 1-2Million a year and where as rookies coming into the NBA for the first time get millions just as a starter. Even if you decided to implement that strategy it will take forever to get the system to a good enough standard to fully rely on.
Yeah defs see your point, I'm thinking pretty long term it'd be a pay off in my eyes in the long run and they've got all the blueprints to that roadmap but also I understand theirs so many factors that are different with the 2 economies and levels of success between the sports I just feel like it's insane that American Colleges have American Football & NCAA Basketball sell out consistently in these large stadiums and the culture around these College teams while I go to UTS now and have never heard of hyped event around these Uni's competing against each other while NZ has a fan base around the top High School teams competing in Union. Just interesting to me
@@shivdfi4117 I know the support is insane overseas. I wish we had a similar system built over here but yes your right long term it would pay off if the NRL could keep up financially as well. A side note, imagine how many great players we’ve missed out because we don’t have a system like The USA. Over there in every high school everyone can have a chance to find out if they have a talent for a sport like NFl, NBA, NHL that you didn’t even know. Over here in Australia you have to seek out those clubs and we might have missed out on some great players just because they never tried it.
I think the issue is that jack said he wanted to be on the open market, implying he wanted to get the most money possible, then changed the line so that he went to a club that was paying significantly less it was about premierships, which makes people think this was done months ago
He made it clear he was testing the market and a contending team tabled a competitive offer. Money only matters when it's too good to refuse or too bad to accept. The only thing that needs to change is how the Raiders run their organisation.
think we need to be trying to change the nrl into a system of european football. I think they should have the same transfer window type stuff and promotion/relegation BUT put in salary caps based on the league you're in. So if your in nrl you get 10 mill if you're in the teir below 8 million etc. keeps teams relatively balanced and punishes poor cap management (tigers) and by having salary cap teirs you can make sure the best players are still in the nrl as if you get relegated you have to decrease your cap sell some players and work your way back up. The flaw in the epl is big clubs man u, liverpool etc have 150+million caps while burnely, leeds etc have like 60 mill.
adding transfer fees also adds to rewarding good club management (as in off feild earnings to be able to buy players) will need to be some regulation about transfer fees so rich owners cant just offer big fees should be some kind of % revenue is transfer fee cap. But adding transfer fees rewards good clubs for being run well and punishes clubs that are being run poorly. also fans will get to see teams come and go like north sydney or valley diehards etc.
Gus Gould thinks he is right about every single topic. Have a deep think about what you say Phillip and realise your wrong occasionally. Self important dribble on a regular basis... Ok i got that off my chest.
just add a transfer window so people arent negotiating contracts in middle of season.... its the cause for the whole issue. Keeps NRL in media in offseason too.
You heard it here guys from from one of the best past players Gal “ played in the East coast of Australia and NZ, we are not a World game, we are the beat game in Australia alone” League is an awesome game I agree and awesome game to watch better than Rugby Union however Union is alot more fun to play than league. I play club at both sports and I dont run any where near as much as I do in Union. I love to play League cause I dont have to constantly run entire game. I can choose to stand back for 2-3 plays if I wanted
Not once a mention here of the player. Gus is saying the player has to go. What about the player what happens if a brisbane kid only chance when he is young to sign with a Sydney team and he does 2 years there gets home sick and wants to go back to Brisbane but the warriors are the highest bidders. He had to go to New Zealand? Gus makes no sense and this is a howler.
If a player has been with a club for a certain amount of years he should be able to choose where he wants to go as it is in the AFL a free agency period,but just don’t do it mid season make at seasons end.
I totally get Gus' point about not having the right setup for a draft because clubs do the junior development. But, here's how we can make a draft system work. Every club gets to pick one of their junior players outside of the top 30 and keep them. i.e. they are removed from the general draft. every other junior player age 18+ is put into the draft. weakest team gets to pick first. e.g. West Tigers would get first pick. Say the tigers want to pick a junior at Penrith. But Penrith would get to keep their junior they prize most highly for that year having removed them from the general draft. Under this system clubs are rewarded for development, and struggling clubs also get to pick a player they like. Keen to hear thoughts...
Easiest way is the NRL takes over junior development. They are a billion dollar organisation that could easily trim some of the unnecessary stuff they have going on to ensure their product remains alive. The NRL should not be dictating what clubs do with their juniors if they don't front up the cash to develop them. That's how it works in the AFL.
Gal makes sense here. Can see why Gus is combative, as mentioned "he runs a football club". Without a drafting system "forcing" players to go to lower ranked clubs (bulldogs), they would have a hard time recruiting unless they pay well over market value.
A NFL style draft is the best for the game overall, it creates parity over time. It also has excitement for the draft for trading picks, swapping players etc . But you also only have to play for your drafted club for the first contract, after that you become a free agent and can sign wherever you want. So that is good, however the NRL is too small to support a draft like that while the clubs are doing the developing and there is no 2nd tier system to do it for young players. Rock and a hard place
Why couldn't the league work around a draft system? Not all clubs have equal development systems, for example Brisbane has always been taking local Gold Coast talent and putting young players in their system. It would help teams who are constantly struggling each year and teams who don't have as much money like Sydney, Souths and Brisbane. I understand both sides to some of the comments about wanting to play for your childhood club but this is their profession and players drafted would only be in 1 or 2 year contracts. Having a draft and free angency period would allow clubs, like the Raiders and their situation, to understand a player (Jack Wighton) is looking to test the market and can receive something back for him (draft pick or player) instead of feeling empty handed. It would also get rid of this loan crap that doesn't make that much sense at all. Players could request a trade but if under contract it would be the clubs decision. NRL players in recent years have been requesting releases anyway.
Vote on a top 30 or 40 players in the league players every year. Each club cannot have more than 3 or 4 players from the group. THEN maybe you can remove the salary cap.
Players should be able to play where they want but it shouldn't happen to the benefit of the top clubs and to the detriment of the others. Having players accept less money to join a top club (or requiring the lower clubs to pay significantly more for players) is making the salary cap pointless. IMO there should be more allowance for developing juniors but the NRL should also put a 'market value' on any player moving teams, the market value being an average of other offers. In Wightons case his market value would be $900,000 to $1 million as that's what both Dolphins and Raiders offered him. The gaining club (Souths in this case) might only pay him $800,000 but his value on the cap would be $950,000.
I remember Gal playing 5/8 for Cronulla ...And i am QLD'er ....I think there should be a salary cap allowance for clubs /players that stay with a team and become successful . it will promote better clubs and focus on development and can only be good for the game . The teams that are rich and can continue to just buy players/3rd party deals will in a couple of years start falling behind the money spent on developing players Development clubs ..Proof is in the Pudding at Penrith Gus took on the " QLD delopment style " for Penrith and they are a real chance of going 3 in row perhaps 4 . They are Up there with Melbourne and Roosters Broncos For success ... As blue eyed as Gus is he knows Football , So does Gal even on the Blue eyed Panel .. We call call wide NSW world of sports ..
the souths coach laughed at how they cant fit him in their salary cap and yet they signed him, what a joke. every year a player should be evaluated by the NRL and when they sign a contract that is the minimum they are worth, so if a team signs them for lower then that its fine but in the salary cap they are worth the full amount. Teddy signs with rosters for 500k but is worth a Mil then on paper he is worth a Mil
I dont usually agree with Gus but he is so spot on here. So many other sports do it and its an amazing spectacle in itself. The AFL draft is a perfect example. Not so sure about Jack Wighton scenario because once he is an established player he should absolutely have the last say on where he goes. Its also not fair on a club that develops a young player all through juniors and adolescent to then be snapped up by another club before he starts playing first grade. In saying that, that happens at alot of sports if not all sports. The way the sign to another club and play an entire season at their current club is crazy. Not only is it better and fair for all clubs to do a draft but it would create so much revenue for the game because fans are so invested in it and would be so much more aware and knowledgeable of the new and young players coming through. They need a system where the NRL pays for the development of all young juniors just like Gus said. Spot on Gus and well said. Gal is pretty thick here to not be able to fathom that. Using Jack wasnt a good example though
Gus & his academy & recruitment are part of the reason my Panthers have been dominating before this season & everyone knows that. I agree 100% with your 2nd comment though, and dont understand why it hasnt been investigated,
I just don't understand why NRL is so frigid and set in their ways. All these other leagues with transfer windows generate a lot of buzz with the fans and it's great. When are we going to stop being so behind the times
Should be a club transfer fee that the club thats taking the player pays if the player is within a contract like English football or clubs can sell players, the clubs lose big time when their players they spent Yeats developing just leave
Never seen gus get owned in an argument/debate.
Gus sounds ridiculous here. He can hardly talk with the Bulldogs swooping in and taking alot of Penrith’s and other clubs homegrown talent, look at their team for next year for gods sakes. Imagine trying to say that players should have to pack up their lives and their families and be forced to play for whoever will bid the most for them like a slave trade. “The current system gives all the power to the player” yeah, almost like they’re the ones out there every single weekend and training session putting their bodies on the line ay Gus? Of course they should have the power to decide where they want to play! He’s had some bad takes but this one’s right up there.
I'm with you mate. Gus seems to think the modern player is soft. She's just saying what a typical club administration would about the issue. Drafts are symbolic of a league controlled down to the Nth degree by the administration, and in the end you'll have a fragmented product that's designed to simply make advertising cash like NFL.
@@MJBOGAN 💯bro
Despite Gals interrupting, he is right. Why should you go to the highest bidder if you don’t want to play there. Then you have a player playing for you that doesn’t want to be with you. Dumb
I think the option should be open to all clubs who want to bid. Then the player can pick and choose were they want to go... obviously if a club knows that a player wants to go to their club they will potentially bid lower... may even out the playing field to reserve morales for both players and the clubs
Because the idea of a salary cap league is to have parity between teams. Also a draft is for the young developing players, even in a draft system, older, experienced players on their 2nd or 3rd contracts could move to where they want, just like now. The main difference is young developing talent would be spread around the clubs.
Gal is right here. If players dont want to move, it’s their choice dont force them. Also dont force having a draft as well! Young kids have dreams playing for their favourite club and a draft will kill their dreams
if your employer says the job is in a different town and a different department, you either go where your told or you find a new job. No different for the players. It was my dream to work on a tropical island with unlimited funds. We all have our dreams killed, it's called life.
I grow up supporting the Roosters and am good enough to play NRL but they don't draft me and the Broncos do because they like me as a player and want me involved with their Club. I say "no thank you, I grew up a Rooster and although they didn't pick me, I would rather not play NRL and sit at home and just be a Roosters fan"... Is that what we are sticking with??
It matters a lot to play for your child hood team, but don’t get it twisted, making the league means so much more then ending up at your favourite club. You can always transfer or decide to leave down the line in your career. Making the league is top priority
Players leave their "dream" clubs all the time to take up starting postions, or simply positions in the top 30 at a club when they are outside it. A draft simply spreads the talent around the league, and doesnt allow teams to horde talent.
Honestly I'd be happy with the opportunity to play for any club.
Gal is right. Whatever system there is there will be some player/club complaining when things don't work out for them.
If a player comes through the clubs juniors for last 5+ years or a player has played over 200 games for one club they should have atleast a 50% concession from salary cap. LOYALTY SHOULD BE REWARDED NOT PENALISED
Have to say i agree with gal here. That system sounds too complicated and i wouldnt tryst the governing body with those decisions
Gal inadvertently Roasting the NRL by saying Jack wighton should go to a crap team because he's a good player just got me choking on my sandwich with laughter
It's a fair call, Makes for a even competition 🤷
Stick with the current market. It will be stupid if it’s the highest bid the players go to
I see that having players signed a year in advance can be frustrating to clubs and fans, and I get the system might need a bit of an overhaul. I don't see how what Gus is suggesting changes much. A draft could be used, like it is in other sports, for rookies coming into the League if the NRL was in charge of development (so that individual clubs who are far more involved in junior pathways aren't out of pocket for doing so). That could be effective for spreading rookie talent throughout the comp.
But how are you going to have a similar system for more experienced players? Are you really going to stop players from joining teams that have proven themselves competent? Yes, poor performing clubs don't get a look in at the moment for the best players, but isn't that fair enough?
Good clubs are rewarded by being able to sign better players, because players know they will have a more fulfilling career there. They also lose out because less competent teams poach all their best talent once they can't fit all their top players in the cap - even in cases where they developed most of them.
It's not like the Top 8 isn't fairly fluid, while we often see the usual faces like Rabbits and Roosters you often get teams coming out of nowhere into the 8 or dropping out of it. I think the current system is just fine as long as 3rd party deals are properly investigated and eradicated - I think we all know there are perks for some of the richer Sydney teams that evade the salary cap, but tweaking the transfer window isn't a fix for that.
I mean Gus also holds a senior executive position with an NRL team. Hasn’t he signed a whole bunch of players in this very way? Or does it work for him because like he says “the player should go to the highest bidder”?
If you're working within a flawed system, then you should still maximise the benefits from it otherwise you are disadvantaging your club. You can still call out that the system that they all play by is broken and want to change it.
Exactly this way. He couldn’t even get a graphic artist to photoshop a polo shirt on Kikau. And as he pointed out there wasn’t an opportunity to take pics later in the yr. Players have other commitments after the season is done and the prospect of relocating entire families at short notice has to be considered, too.
Gal understands. He remained with the Sharks for many years before they finally won a premiership. I'm sure he was hit up by many clubs and is defending the right for a player to have that decision.
omg gus just lost me when he said he shouldnt have a choice and should go to the highest bidder lmfao, so where has the uproar been when players take pay cuts to stay at their club?
Draft works in NFL, NBA, MLB because there are no other options for a player. Players here have the option of many Union comps around the world and ESL where they can potentially earn more money.
I agree with Paul 💯💯💯
Maybe not a draft, but an offseason period where players make their off-season decision could work like how it is in the NBA. Rookies would still be brought up with their respective teams, but It would be nice to not have all this signing drama in the middle of the season. Players off contract would have a period in the off-season to make their decision for next year.
Cant think of one professional league that has a "player draft" that includes already registered players.....every draft i know of is all external or unregistered players, anyone able to elaborate on Gus's comment?
It's a ridiculous idea that doesn't exist anywhere in the sporting world. The only analogy you could make is with leagues like the NBA where you can 'trade' players, but that's the only situation I know of where players can be sent to another team without their approval.
Baseball trade all the time
@@khanager2814 But again thats trades, not a "draft" where players looking to go to another team need to register and the highest bidder wins. That doesnt exist anywhere in the world im aware of, they just sign with the team they want to go to.
Trades make sense, and should be part of any professional league. It suprises me that the NRL doesnt have it - atm there is no way for a club to reduce the impact of poorly performing players, or disgruntled players, or seeking to better there financial impact without just keeping the player and just not playing them.
@@Vydru23 being traded when you do not want to move is a problem. The point is to register that you are happy to move your life and start fresh somewhere else.
@@furyau1 its only a problem it seems in the NRL, every other professional sport has a trade system, and it works for both player and owners (teams) alike.
I agree with Gal .. 12 months in advance is enough... It's fine how it is move on, always have to complain about something 😭😞😭
to say a player has to go to the highest bidder is ridiculous
1000% right Gus, the game would oly get better under a draft system, and it matters hows it written up, the details. and gives all teams a go
Gal is like paul Kent, where he believes that you have to interrupt and talk over the other person. The biggest voice is not always the correct voice
He had a more valid point though.. Gus was in denial at the end
They were interrupting each other. Don’t put all that on Gal.
A draft is not the idea. I think clubs should be allowed to have salary cap concessions for players they have brought up through their development pathway. That leaves the opportunity for a one club player to exist and build more of a dedicated fan base. It would also encourage NRL teams to invest in junior development heavily.
Gus's proposed system is absolutely crap! Players either leave for more money or actually want to win... that's it...
There should be a free agency period at the end of the season for players off contract and players who've declined their player option, just like Wighton.. in that period, they negotiate and sign with their new club..
The midseason signings to different clubs need to stop.. and the only midseason signings that should happen is when a club agrees to extend a player's contract..
I think the option should be open to all clubs who want to bid. Then the player can pick and choose were they want to go... obviously if a club knows that a player wants to go to their club they will potentially bid lower... may even out the playing field to reserve morales for both players and the clubs
Draft makes sense, but the football transfer periods of mid season and off season like they have in Europe is the better option with the player moving immediately after signing a new contract.
Gus is such a hypocrite. The cap provides balance in the market which negates sheer greed as the greatest motivator to success and the teams that profit most are those with the best development and shrewdest coaches.
Except teams like the Tigers have to pay 30% more to try and convince a player to stay or come over if they can so the cap is meaningless. When we have teams that stay at the bottom of the league for years fans move on and the league shrinks. Gus is right, we need a long term vision with the comp
Gus is right Gal is being strictly about players interests
@@Nylandersaraus1 yeah they need a draft for people coming into the league, but not for people already in the league that’s ridiculous. It just becomes a slave market at that point, players being forced to pack up their lives and families and go and play for the highest bidder.
@@kainoizking we should never have a draft. Rookies should always be allowed to play for a team of their choice
@JW So players put their body’s on the line week after week and we’re going to sit here and say that they can’t choose where they want to play after their contract is up? That if they’ve developed themselves and worked on their craft to the point where they’re good enough that multiple clubs are chasing them, that they’re to just be forced to go and play for whoever bids the most money? I don’t understand how people aren’t seeing how ridiculous that idea is. If you’re under contract working for a company and the contract finishes, should other companies have the right to just put up cash and force you to go and work for them? Potentially having to move yourself and your family to a completely different part of the country? No. So why is it any different here?
The nrl market isn’t the same as the open market but it’s insane to suggest that you should HAVE to go work for someone because they offered you a greater salary. There’s more than one reason to take a pay cut somewhere else.
Gus is 100% correct.
Gus likes control. The current system doesn't allow him that so he wants the system changed.
Issue is NRL isn’t big enough for draft and we need to prioritize the players otherwise players will not want to play NRL full stop. Gal is right, more power to players because atm NRL isn’t bigger then it’s players.
Jack wanted to play with his mates and if he can, good luck to him. Melbourne Storm was allowed to keep their best players for a long time so why not anyone else. Any system that makes you play somewhere you don't want to be will turn the players against the NRL. The only reason it's a circus is because Gus can't claim he is responsible for how good the game is at the moment. It's a great product, the NRL are doing a very good job.
Yet the Storm have given up so many world class players but that's OK cause it's a NSW dominated system. What team in the last ten years have lost the quality of players the Storm has? The answer...none. Salary cap decides we can't keep them but to have everyone bitching about one playr leaving makes me laugh. Here's an idea..how about you create a culture where it's worth staying and fight for your spot. That's what seperates the good from the bad. Too many players are sooks and don't work hard enough but want the big dollars. The Storm take your rejects and show them hard work and culture makes a player not cash and mates
@@grantmcaskell4568The Storm has also been caught blatantly cheating. Something to keep in mind.
@Grant Mcaskell the Storm also picks players who all come from grassroots systems outside of Melbourne/Victoria, often initially channelled into NSW & QLD NRL clubs. So I can't see you having a clinical correctness.
Lol how good the game is at the moment? I want what you are having
@Cameron Johns true bit we're not talking about salary cap cheating here. We're talking about losing Wighton whilst he's a good player he's no Cooper Cronk
Well done Gal, your right,you easily won that debate against Gus
YOU GO GAL!!
Simple Solution here
Transfer window between October after the grand final and 2 weeks before the season starts, thats 5 and a bit months to sort out all signings and releases
An exception to releasing someone early to the superleague, thus denying another nrl team to swap a player to
Its been dumb to have players change teams mid season
Didn’t the Bulldogs put Kikau in a dogs jumper whilst still under contract to Penrith?
Gal needs to stop interrupting and listen for a change. Butting in every time Gus talks is annoying
I agree with Gus to the point where there should be a system in place that should say when a player can start looking for other options than to stay at a club. Signing to a new club for whatever reason during the first quarter/half of the season regardless of the current contract can raise issues for the club, teammates and coaches, professionally, and as we have seen recently, emotionally. It "can" cause a blindness in judgement and professionalism within how a player can play during the rest of their season, or how a coach can form the team.
However, I do agree with Gal that all power should be to the player. If a player wants to choose to go to a different club for a particular reason, whether it be to win a premiership, to play in a different city, broaden experiences, whatever, then that should be up to the player. They should have full control over where they want to go, regardless of money, so long as they uphold their current contract. They are choosing to play at a club for less money than resigning for more. That should say enough about the player's motive, and should be supported and approved, rather than condemned.
I think this whole topic would not be talked about if it hadn't been a huge player like Jack Wighton, who has been at the Raiders for over a decade, had won many awards and had represented his state and country. The man wants to do something different in his career. He has proven himself multiple times that he is a valuable player and asset, and wants to join a team that he believes can finally let him achieve his goals. Why not let him?
The issue that sparked this is totally beside thenpoint of what theyre saying. Wighton clearly made this deal months before the start of the season
I think what Gus is talking here would be classed as a restriction of trade and would be challenged by the players as Gal said and would be illegal. You can't force someone to sign a contract they don't agree to.
Gus is right. Look at the premier League Transfer Windows. It works so well and keeps the agents out and the clubs in control
2023 GRAND FINAL WINNERS 🏆🥇 CANBERRA RAIDERS WOOOOOO LET'S GO RAIDERS
I hate when Gus says the draft is used "all around the world" when its used pretty much exclusively in North America with the exception of the AFL, KHL (Russian Hockey League), IPL (Indian Premier League Cricket) and the only reason the draft exists in American sports is because of the NCAA and the prominence of collegiate sports and the pathway to professional sports, plus America loves anything they can televise pump full of ads and make a load of money on. there's nothing wrong with the current system but if they were to change it I'd rather see it go the direction of the EPL (soccer) where there's no salary cap and players garner a transfer fee to go between clubs and there is FFP (financial fair play) to stop clubs from just spending money in an unsustainable way... at least that way clubs will be rewarded for growing their own talent.
A draft only really works for a national sport like the AFL but it comes with all sorts of concessions like sydney getting a salary cap concession because of the higher cost of living. Clubs like the warriors would suffer because there is no guarantee that they will keep their best players and australian players would never go across plus a draft for registered players would almost be a restraint of trade. If i live and play in the eastern suburbs or the gold coast i wouldnt want to move to canberra or auckland.
When gus is wrong, he says pull it up on the tape 🤣🤣🤣
Gal winner by knockout in this argument. Why though are they talking about an American system when clearly the best method is the EPL transfer system. Two windows a year and clubs are compensated if another players contract wants to be brought out. If a player is off contract it's open game. Clubs should also be given a 10% salary cap discount on the player if they blood a junior and this goes up 5% every five years to reward and encourage loyalty.
draft awards bad teams for being bad. look what gus did for the panthers.force clubs to be competant, not lucky
The easiest solution, and the one that will grow the game, is to put in a sizeable cap concession for club juniors. Start it at a 50% discount on the cap for players under 21 then lower it a little after they reach 21 or play 50 games (whichever comes first).
Runs into a few issues unfortunately.
(1) Some clubs are geographically just better suited to junior development. Not saying that guarantees a club is good at it, but it is the reality - Penrith has a tonne of feeder clubs, Roosters have almost none.
(2) I don't see how this does anything to fix parity in the comp. Given Wighton is the one who sparked this whole debate, we'll use him as an example. He chose less money to move to a premiership contender.
I actually agree with you and think it's a good idea, but it actually probably WORSENS the issue they're talking about here, which is the bottom clubs not being able to attract players.
Was Gus getting a bit emotional there he wiped he's eye twice lol 🤣🤣
Rugby Union has killed itself when:
1. Kills the local traditional grass-roots
2. Kills the traditional local rivalries
3. Kills the connection between community, locality and loyalty and representing your people (not your commerce and brand and marketing and franchise)
Heed these words well, NRL. Australia has a penchant to follow the USA eg excess advertising etc but the Aussies being small fish in the world pond ends up being better for your own local sports and rivalries and traditions that makes you Aussies...
I'm glad Lebron James made a difference in the NBA with players choosing where to go, it's amazing how lopsided this is because if a club is "done" with you they just kick you to the curb and you're on your own but my god if you leave all hell breaks loose and you are called selfish
I think a player should not be allowed to negotiate with any team until the season is over., and only if their contract ends that year, no signing with a year still left on their contract. And player managers should not be allowed to have more than 3 players on their books as they hold too much power with having over 5 players at a club they can manipulate that club.
That leaves 3 or so months to sign players before they start pre-season come January (yes I know some teams start before that) that way it will keep it fairer than it is now.
I know this would take years to plan out and obviously a lot of things would need to fall in line to make it work, but why don't we adopt a draft system similar to America and use Universities to be apart of these development squads.
Barely ever see articles around NSW cup besides when an NRL players gets put their for a game or 2 besides the North Bears being close to home I've never heard anyone talking about an experience or any excitement around NSW Cup
because it will cost allot of money. The NRL makes significantly less money than the NBA for example. Our highest NRL stars get 1-2Million a year and where as rookies coming into the NBA for the first time get millions just as a starter.
Even if you decided to implement that strategy it will take forever to get the system to a good enough standard to fully rely on.
Yeah defs see your point, I'm thinking pretty long term it'd be a pay off in my eyes in the long run and they've got all the blueprints to that roadmap but also I understand theirs so many factors that are different with the 2 economies and levels of success between the sports
I just feel like it's insane that American Colleges have American Football & NCAA Basketball sell out consistently in these large stadiums and the culture around these College teams while I go to UTS now and have never heard of hyped event around these Uni's competing against each other while NZ has a fan base around the top High School teams competing in Union.
Just interesting to me
@@shivdfi4117 I know the support is insane overseas. I wish we had a similar system built over here but yes your right long term it would pay off if the NRL could keep up financially as well.
A side note, imagine how many great players we’ve missed out because we don’t have a system like The USA. Over there in every high school everyone can have a chance to find out if they have a talent for a sport like NFl, NBA, NHL that you didn’t even know. Over here in Australia you have to seek out those clubs and we might have missed out on some great players just because they never tried it.
@@shivdfi4117 even the drum lines and cheerleading squares have a competition league set up as well
No draft. No salary cap. No restriction of trade.
You must be a Roosters fan? Or mate of Russel`s
We need a trade period. Clubs can trade players and get something in return for them.
I wish Gallen had subtitles
This debate should get sorted out in the boxing ring.
Which sports have a free agent forced auction? Other sports have trading and transfer fees.
I love Gus but he is wrong. Don't fix something that isn't broken. We keep changing the game every year and the ratings are going down.
I agree with gal could you qlders imagine gal being drafted to the broncos there would be a riot at lang park every 2nd week
I think the issue is that jack said he wanted to be on the open market, implying he wanted to get the most money possible, then changed the line so that he went to a club that was paying significantly less it was about premierships, which makes people think this was done months ago
He made it clear he was testing the market and a contending team tabled a competitive offer. Money only matters when it's too good to refuse or too bad to accept. The only thing that needs to change is how the Raiders run their organisation.
think we need to be trying to change the nrl into a system of european football. I think they should have the same transfer window type stuff and promotion/relegation BUT put in salary caps based on the league you're in. So if your in nrl you get 10 mill if you're in the teir below 8 million etc. keeps teams relatively balanced and punishes poor cap management (tigers) and by having salary cap teirs you can make sure the best players are still in the nrl as if you get relegated you have to decrease your cap sell some players and work your way back up. The flaw in the epl is big clubs man u, liverpool etc have 150+million caps while burnely, leeds etc have like 60 mill.
adding transfer fees also adds to rewarding good club management (as in off feild earnings to be able to buy players) will need to be some regulation about transfer fees so rich owners cant just offer big fees should be some kind of % revenue is transfer fee cap. But adding transfer fees rewards good clubs for being run well and punishes clubs that are being run poorly. also fans will get to see teams come and go like north sydney or valley diehards etc.
Gus is right. I follow AFL. No one club stays strong for more than 5/7 years
There's not much loyalty left in the modern game a Draft would kill the little loyalty left in the game
The player and manager should have all the power..
Gal is right on this one
Completely agree with Gal.
Gus Gould thinks he is right about every single topic. Have a deep think about what you say Phillip and realise your wrong occasionally. Self important dribble on a regular basis... Ok i got that off my chest.
just add a transfer window so people arent negotiating contracts in middle of season.... its the cause for the whole issue. Keeps NRL in media in offseason too.
You heard it here guys from from one of the best past players Gal “ played in the East coast of Australia and NZ, we are not a World game, we are the beat game in Australia alone”
League is an awesome game I agree and awesome game to watch better than Rugby Union however Union is alot more fun to play than league. I play club at both sports and I dont run any where near as much as I do in Union. I love to play League cause I dont have to constantly run entire game. I can choose to stand back for 2-3 plays if I wanted
Gus is completely wrong on this one. Needs to eat some humble pie.
Not once a mention here of the player. Gus is saying the player has to go. What about the player what happens if a brisbane kid only chance when he is young to sign with a Sydney team and he does 2 years there gets home sick and wants to go back to Brisbane but the warriors are the highest bidders. He had to go to New Zealand? Gus makes no sense and this is a howler.
If a player has been with a club for a certain amount of years he should be able to choose where he wants to go as it is in the AFL a free agency period,but just don’t do it mid season make at seasons end.
The problem is the third party payments. You do not need to think hard to name a lest two teams.
I totally get Gus' point about not having the right setup for a draft because clubs do the junior development. But, here's how we can make a draft system work. Every club gets to pick one of their junior players outside of the top 30 and keep them. i.e. they are removed from the general draft. every other junior player age 18+ is put into the draft. weakest team gets to pick first. e.g. West Tigers would get first pick. Say the tigers want to pick a junior at Penrith. But Penrith would get to keep their junior they prize most highly for that year having removed them from the general draft. Under this system clubs are rewarded for development, and struggling clubs also get to pick a player they like. Keen to hear thoughts...
Easiest way is the NRL takes over junior development. They are a billion dollar organisation that could easily trim some of the unnecessary stuff they have going on to ensure their product remains alive. The NRL should not be dictating what clubs do with their juniors if they don't front up the cash to develop them. That's how it works in the AFL.
Gal makes sense here. Can see why Gus is combative, as mentioned "he runs a football club". Without a drafting system "forcing" players to go to lower ranked clubs (bulldogs), they would have a hard time recruiting unless they pay well over market value.
no he doesn't it makes wests tigers possible.
Gallen is an idiot. If he didn't bully and overshout people no one would listen to him. Shouting doesn't equal I.Q
Gus just sounds anti worker. God forbid the people actually doing the work have any power
I don't agree with a draft at all have a transfer window in the middle of the season and at the end.
A NFL style draft is the best for the game overall, it creates parity over time. It also has excitement for the draft for trading picks, swapping players etc . But you also only have to play for your drafted club for the first contract, after that you become a free agent and can sign wherever you want.
So that is good, however the NRL is too small to support a draft like that while the clubs are doing the developing and there is no 2nd tier system to do it for young players.
Rock and a hard place
Get rid of the salary cap simple
"Our country is not set up for an external draft"
AFL - hold my beer
Poor gal to many punches in the head
You cant tell people where they are going to work, Hey Gus your off to coach cowboys juniors cause it is in games best interest
do we forget footy players are people too ?
what if he wants to live at a certain place like i am not often on gals side but this time I am
He wouldn't be complaining if Wighton singed with the bulldogs
Why couldn't the league work around a draft system? Not all clubs have equal development systems, for example Brisbane has always been taking local Gold Coast talent and putting young players in their system. It would help teams who are constantly struggling each year and teams who don't have as much money like Sydney, Souths and Brisbane. I understand both sides to some of the comments about wanting to play for your childhood club but this is their profession and players drafted would only be in 1 or 2 year contracts.
Having a draft and free angency period would allow clubs, like the Raiders and their situation, to understand a player (Jack Wighton) is looking to test the market and can receive something back for him (draft pick or player) instead of feeling empty handed. It would also get rid of this loan crap that doesn't make that much sense at all. Players could request a trade but if under contract it would be the clubs decision. NRL players in recent years have been requesting releases anyway.
That was poor from Gus, can’t remember seeing him this irrational 🤣
Love gal
Vote on a top 30 or 40 players in the league players every year. Each club cannot have more than 3 or 4 players from the group. THEN maybe you can remove the salary cap.
Players should be able to play where they want but it shouldn't happen to the benefit of the top clubs and to the detriment of the others. Having players accept less money to join a top club (or requiring the lower clubs to pay significantly more for players) is making the salary cap pointless.
IMO there should be more allowance for developing juniors but the NRL should also put a 'market value' on any player moving teams, the market value being an average of other offers. In Wightons case his market value would be $900,000 to $1 million as that's what both Dolphins and Raiders offered him. The gaining club (Souths in this case) might only pay him $800,000 but his value on the cap would be $950,000.
I remember Gal playing 5/8 for Cronulla ...And i am QLD'er ....I think there should be a salary cap allowance for clubs /players that stay with a team and become successful . it will promote better clubs and focus on development and can only be good for the game . The teams that are rich and can continue to just buy players/3rd party deals will in a couple of years start falling behind the money spent on developing players Development clubs ..Proof is in the Pudding at Penrith Gus took on the " QLD delopment style " for Penrith and they are a real chance of going 3 in row perhaps 4 . They are Up there with Melbourne and Roosters Broncos For success ... As blue eyed as Gus is he knows Football , So does Gal even on the Blue eyed Panel .. We call call wide NSW world of sports ..
Gal won that one, just abit disappointed Gus didn't have a better argument.
the souths coach laughed at how they cant fit him in their salary cap and yet they signed him, what a joke. every year a player should be evaluated by the NRL and when they sign a contract that is the minimum they are worth, so if a team signs them for lower then that its fine but in the salary cap they are worth the full amount. Teddy signs with rosters for 500k but is worth a Mil then on paper he is worth a Mil
Well it's obvious souths and easts are cheating the cap
Didn’t Terry Hill put the draft in the bin
I dont usually agree with Gus but he is so spot on here. So many other sports do it and its an amazing spectacle in itself. The AFL draft is a perfect example. Not so sure about Jack Wighton scenario because once he is an established player he should absolutely have the last say on where he goes. Its also not fair on a club that develops a young player all through juniors and adolescent to then be snapped up by another club before he starts playing first grade. In saying that, that happens at alot of sports if not all sports. The way the sign to another club and play an entire season at their current club is crazy. Not only is it better and fair for all clubs to do a draft but it would create so much revenue for the game because fans are so invested in it and would be so much more aware and knowledgeable of the new and young players coming through. They need a system where the NRL pays for the development of all young juniors just like Gus said. Spot on Gus and well said. Gal is pretty thick here to not be able to fathom that. Using Jack wasnt a good example though
Gould and Salary cap destroyed Penrith and it's obvious teams like Easts and Souths are continually cheating the cap
Gus & his academy & recruitment are part of the reason my Panthers have been dominating before this season & everyone knows that. I agree 100% with your 2nd comment though, and dont understand why it hasnt been investigated,
We live in a country where people are offended by a cheese brand name.. I honestly don’t see a draft system working here.
I just don't understand why NRL is so frigid and set in their ways. All these other leagues with transfer windows generate a lot of buzz with the fans and it's great. When are we going to stop being so behind the times
Money-Power, simple!
Gotta agree with Gal
Should be a club transfer fee that the club thats taking the player pays if the player is within a contract like English football or clubs can sell players, the clubs lose big time when their players they spent Yeats developing just leave
No other pro sport in the world has a draft for free agents .. Gus is getting too old and bitter these days