Source :- THE AGE NEWS
After hobbling down the blue carpet that led to the Brad Fittler Medal presentation on Monday night, Hudson Young stopped to address a media scrum that had assembled to quiz him about his playing future.
Canberra had granted Young, who was still wearing a moon boot after rupturing his Achilles tendon in July, early permission to negotiate with the PNG Chiefs. The plan was for Young, once he had sufficiently recovered to fly to Port Moresby, to decide whether to join the NRL’s 19th team or accept the three-year, $3.3 million contract with the Raiders.
“It’s one of those things, I just want to see [PNG] for myself first,” Young said at the time.
“There’s been a lot of media around it and certain players going over there and saying certain things, so I just want to go over there and make the decision myself on what I feel.”
That opportunity will never come. On Wednesday, the Chiefs pulled their three-year, $900,000-a-season offer. It was a response to what happened at Rugby League Central just a few hours earlier.
NRL executive chairman Peter V’landys, during a fortnightly teleconference with club bosses, assured them that PNG would be required to pay “market value” for all of their recruits. While Young’s name was never mentioned, everyone on the call knew that the NSW and Australia back-rower’s situation would be the first test case.
Given that Canberra had tabled a deal worth $1.1 million a season, the NRL’s salary cap auditor ascribed that figure as Young’s notional value. Which means that even if Young agreed to a $900,000-a-year deal with the Chiefs – the tax-free dollars on offer from the Pacific nation would still ensure his take-home pay would be considerably higher than if he stayed in the nation’s capital – he must take up $1.1 million in the new club’s salary cap.
It was seen as a win for Canberra and the existing clubs, who were concerned the Chiefs would use their tax-free dollars to pay “unders” – less than a player could earn elsewhere – effectively stretching their salary cap even further.
However, the Chiefs acted decisively to protect their own interests. They disagreed with the NRL’s valuation, maintaining $900,000 was the most they were prepared to pay for a forward coming off a serious injury and who would be 30 years of age by the time he arrived in Port Moresby.
While Young is arguably the best back-rower in the game, the Chiefs felt there could be better value elsewhere given the likes of Samuela Fainu, Jeremiah Nanai, Liam Martin, Briton Nikora, David Fifita, Tallis Duncan, Brendan Piakura, Teig Wilton and Kulikefu Finefeuiaki will hit the market on November 1, should they not come to terms with their incumbent clubs beforehand.
So Young’s mooted move to PNG is dead in the water.
The bigger issue for the game is trying to agree on a player’s notional or “market value”. If you asked how much a three-bedroom house in Sydney is worth, the answer is “whatever someone is willing to pay for it.”
Yet, the latest developments from head office suggest that a player’s incumbent club will have the biggest say in setting the bar. That’s what the existing clubs wanted, but you need to be careful what you wish for.
For instance, consider James Tedesco’s move from the Tigers to the Roosters in 2018. The Tigers’ offer was about $250,000 a year more, but the star fullback was prepared to leave that money on the table to switch from a struggling team to a strong one. It paid off for Teddy, though. He went on to win two NRL titles and captain his state and country.
But would that move still be allowed today? Would the Roosters have gone through with the signing if the NRL had added the higher amount to their salary cap? Or would Tedesco effectively be forced to take the Tigers offer because it was more reflective of his supposed market value?
Complicating matters further, no one knows what the salary cap will be from 2028, when the game’s rich $5.3 billion broadcast deal will kick in. Which is why most player agents insist on ratchet clauses in new contracts, to ensure their client’s pay increases by the same percentage as any salary cap increase.
The NRL will soon release a new benchmarking document to clubs to help them determine the current market value for players by position. However, the goalposts will quickly shift now that new franchises are entering the competition and inflating the market.
Young said on Monday night, “I have no interest in playing for another NRL club” other than PNG or Canberra. But now that the Chiefs’ offer has been withdrawn, is that still the case? Will he throw himself on the open market? Is another NRL club prepared to match Canberra’s $1.1 million price tag?
When it comes to where a player ends up, the notion of loyalty could take a back seat to his notional value.
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