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Aussie Super Rugby teams set for salary cap

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Aussie Super Rugby teams set for salary cap

Article Published: Tuesday 29 March 2011

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Adam Ashley-Cooper's move to the Waratahs could be one of the last of it's kind as the ARU are considering instituting a salary cap for their Super rugby teams.

Ashley-Cooper re-signed with the ARU last month but waited until today to announce that he would be leaving the Brumbies to play for the Waratahs for the next two years.

The move will only strengthen the Waratahs who have been steadily contracting Australia's best talent but it might not last as details have surfaced of a proposed salary cap and contract protocol to be introduced in 2012.

Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph has been shown a document which has revealed that the ARU is planning to cut player wages with a $4.4 million salary cap at Super Rugby level next year, which will then be cut back to $4.1 million from 2013.

The salary cap total for the year must spread between 30 members of a "core playing squad" and five players on rookie contracts.

The salary cap will bring some immediate problems as states currently carry between 38-40 full-time players in their squads.

There has been an unofficial cap of around $150,000 to $160,000 individual Super Rugby contracts which will fall away but all of the players salaries will have to fit into the cap.

The minimum wage in the main squad will stay at $60,095 which means that players with mid range salaries will probably be trimmed so that there is more money for the stars.

ARU protocols will also stipulate that clubs cannot begin negotiating with any players for top-up money until after a deal has been agreed in principle (though not legally) between the player and province.

The idea is to get the states to compete for players more and to share more of the costs for elite players with their $4.4 million annual grant and to cut back on a bloated group of players receiving top-up money.

Around 50 Australian Super rugby players now receive top-up money and ARU boss John O'Neill wants to cut that back to around 35.

The act of getting third parties to top up player payments has the potential to become even more murky than it currently is as the protocols say that all deals "sourced, facilitated, serviced or guaranteed" by the franchise would count under the salary cap, but those not linked will remain outside the "maximum contribution" cap.

The ARU will allow team sponsors to pay five players up to $30,000 each as a marquee-like concession.

The ARU document says that the new measures are being brought in to "protect the long-term financial health and viability" of Super Rugby sides, and to spread talent around.

There will also be the creation of a transparent "contracting window" in September and teams must must provide a list to the ARU of players they've yet to contract, who will then go in a pool for all states to view and bid for players on 12-month contracts.

The protocols will also open avenues for foreign players and possible private money to lure them to Australia by ruling that they will go into the cap at the average fee of $137,000 regardless of wage.

The whole concept may however backfire on the ARU drastically as cash rich clubs who also have salary caps have the advantage of stronger currencies which have the potential to undermine Australian teams.

http://www.superxv.com/news/super15_rugby_news.asp?id=29547
 
It certainly won't help with Player retention ... I bet the European and Japanese clubs are looking pretty good to the senior players now ... I can see problems with player fatigue and injuries with the squad sizes getting smaller - it might keep the franchises youthful with the rookie contracts though.
 

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