Going, Going, Gone: Now Let's Have Nrl Player Auction
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday June 24, 2006
THE June 30 deadline has gone. Not that it ever really existed. Player agents in the NRL meat market were always a crafty lot, couching their "expressions of interest" in remarkably explicit terms to clubs that somehow got around the rules in touting their players. It was an underhand game that involved many in the code, and while clubs would occasionally bleat, they too were complicit in its very existence.
Now NRL chief executive David Gallop has acted to dismantle the player contract system and open up debate about whether there should be another set of rules in operation or whether it should be unregulated. Open slather, predict the player agents. But what is the alternative?The pros and cons of a player draft, both externally or internally, have been debated elsewhere - including in the courts. But what about introducing something radical that is totally transparent, like a player auction or an open tender? Coaches regularly talk about their "cattle" so, with due respect to the players off contract for the following season, why not a weekend at the sale yard? We could have a couple of days of parading at a set time each year; players could be prodded, poked and quizzed, they could detail their wish list of conditions (length of contract, car, employment for the wife, etc) then the chief executives could bid as furiously as they so wished. But lest anyone think this was just a form of a draft, the player could then have the final decision whether to accept the top bid, or alternatively choose a lesser amount from another club. Of course, there could be collusion between a club and a player beforehand to provide under-the-table payments on top of their bid amount - but that can happen now anyway. At least such an auction could be openly scrutinised.The AFL and the American National Football League have their rookie systems which are heavily weighted in favour of the clubs at the expense of eager youngsters wanting a start. But an open auction/tender would put the power back into the hands of the players. They could see quite clearly how each club values them and make a considered decision.Everyone would know how much positions and players were worth to different clubs. Ridiculous figures like the $750,000 a year to Mark Gasnier - which is not his true payment - would not be bandied about. The inflationary rubbish propagated by agents would disappear.The players would scream that they wouldn't want their salary publicised. But other professional salaries of interest and accountability to the public, like teachers and company directors, are made public - so why not footballers, whose pay packet is due to their fans' television viewing habits, support at the games and purchase of club merchandise? Who has the most to fear from such accountability, apart from the chief executives who have to fork out the money? Player agents would hate such a system because their easy seven or eight per cent cut from current contract negotiations would be threatened. But that is the very point. At the moment, there are numerous conflicts of interest that many players should be very concerned about, but appear to be ignoring.When agents act on behalf of more than one player in a club, they are attempting to gouge a whack of the salary cap for one client, which may be at the expense of his other clients. Or when an agent has players of the same position from different clubs, he could be tempted to act in the best interests of the agent, rather than the players. Collusion between agents and the trading of various players at the expense of other players on his books in secret deals with clubs are not unknown.And then there are the much feared - but so far not proven - rorts, where some unscrupulous agents are believed to be getting an un-declared sling from some clubs.Operating in an open and free market, insofar as the salary cap allows, may rid the game of some of these perceived issues and conflicts, and have the benefit of containing the salary cap monies entirely within the game. Bring on the gavel, I say.
© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald