NRL Rugby League, General Discussion.

10/4 good buddies

Napa scores
14/4
Inglis knee twisted by his own teammate accidentally
hope he's ok
Oh he makes a run looks ok

Lookout
A streaker is on the field
Where are you tonight 4by?

Field goal Chooks
17/4 77mins
Dylan Napa has come of age as a top notch prop foward
Sths just scored
Too late but

Final score 17/10 to the Roosters

Originally posted by JoNeo:

Lookout
A streaker is on the field
Where are you tonight 4by?

I'm the streaker

OK eels
Warriors
Cowboys
Sharks
Tigers
Storm

For a team that are the leading try scorers the bunnies looked very ordinary in attack. When in the oppositions 20 you never expected them to score, never looked to be building pressure and seemed to be passing for the sake of passing until the 5th when they could put in a kick..
Bit like the eels this year, they seem more likely to score from 50m out than from repeat goal line sets.

What do you reckon went wrong?
Sutton/Reynolds/Luke etc sorely missed last night I feel
Napa had a blinder also
Not sure if Glen Stuart was playing,diddn't notice him ?
Eels / Raiders couldn't decide who to go for today
Went with Raiders in the end, should be a goodun
Also Warriors better come out to Plaaaaeyaaaay

I think the Tigers are underrated. They'll tear it up soon. Due for a hot streak.

Napa is a beast, he was carving up everyone last night.

Eels at it again.

The NRL has a salary cap case which haunts them, ahead of their inevitable but very reluctant action to deduct premiership points from the Eels.

In 2010, when the administration of David Gallop was considering a punishment against the Storm for salary cap breaches over four years, it was decided to strip the Melbourne club of the 2009 minor and major premierships, the 2008 minor premiership, together with a fine and the added sanction of playing for no points in the current season.
During the tense discussion in Gallop's office, the code's then salary cap cop, Ian Schubert, pointed out that the Storm had been warned of salary cap breaches back in 2006.

So, within an hour of rapid justice, the Storm lost the 2007 premiership, as well as the minor premiership from the previous year and, later, a World Club Challenge title.

Parramatta has breached the salary cap five of the past six seasons. The club has been asked repeatedly since July, during which time it has been in constant dialogue with the NRL over governance reform: "Have you anything else to declare?"

The answer, repeatedly, has been a definite, no.

The NRL has been constantly lied to over third party breaches which have subsequently surfaced.

Both the Storm and Parramatta committed breaches over a period of years of similar amounts; both clubs had been warned, although the Storm was not offered multiple opportunities to confess. In fact, after being presented with charges and given five days to respond, chairman Rob Moodie flew to Sydney and voluntarily met with Gallop.

The difference between the two clubs on sanctions for salary cap abuse is that Parramatta has no current titles, trophies and premierships to lose.

The NRL is desperate for Parramatta to be a force in the west. A resurgent blue and gold army will deliver attendance figures and TV ratings, both precursors to the corporate sponsorships which are under-whelming for a major Australian sport.

Fox Sports ratings have increased significantly this year, and while Nine's numbers are down, this was expected because of simulcast viewing.

Collectively, ratings are up and Thursday night football has been a winner at the gate.

A winning Eels team would drive the up arrows even higher, ahead of a re-built Parramatta stadium and a bulwark against the growth of an AFL-resourced Greater Western Sydney club.

However, a 10 premiership points penalty would be a death sentence on the Eels' 2016 season, relegating the club from top eight to bottom of the ladder.

But what other sanction can the NRL impose? Monetary fines don't work. The Eels have been hit with fines for breach of salary cap rules five years of the past six.

Last year the club was fined $525,000 for salary cap breaches in 2014. Parramatta became the first club in history to breach all four club salary caps.

The slippery Eels' subsequent denials to the NRL of any further breaches has taken the case out of the court of incompetence into one of wilful disregard for the rules.

The Storm's 2007 breach was $450,000, although the club disputes this.

Melbourne officials suspect the forensic report of the News Ltd hired accountants, which has not been released publicly, added in every possible excess to sex up the size of the sin.

Yet the Storm had the 2007 premiership added to their sanctions because of a decision Moodie insists was made in less than one hour.

Furthermore, the Melbourne breaches involved the club guaranteeing third party agreements which the club say was necessary in a city where the AFL dominates commercial opportunities for sport.

Subsequent to the Melbourne punishment, the NRL decided to allow marquee player allowances, meaning a club can guarantee third party deals, currently to a ceiling of $800,000.

So, much of what the Storm did is now allowed, while evidence is accumulating that the Eels have exhausted all their marquee allowances and have embraced the illicit third party deals as well.

OK, some will argue that a sanction imposed by one NRL administration should have no relevance to another.

However, a key plank of all administrations is that a strictly enforced salary cap is vital to a balanced 16-team competition and the avoidance of lopsided results.

Furthermore, the NRL's Integrity chief, Nick Weeks, has studied the Storm's breaches and punishment as part of his anticipated action against the Eels but that is a story for another time.

Not a fan of the salary cap, it is to easy to rort and open to abuse, the only reason it exists is to try and even out the comp and give clubs that wouldn't be financially viable in an open market the chance to survive and be competitive.
If we must have a salary cap then I would much rather see a situation where players are given a book value by the NRL and the salary cap set by the book values.
Clubs would be free to pay players what ever they agreed to but their value for salary cap purposes would be the value placed on them by the NRL. It would still spread the talent around but would be 100% transparent and what a players contract was worth and where payments came from would be irrelevant.
I think clubs like the warriors, tigers and eels who have a proven track record of developing players should be rewarded with discounts on salary cap values for players that they have developed and long term players also discounted.

Melbourne lost 5 premiership titles and played for nothing one season for their salary cap issues. If the Eels transgressions are on the same level, in all fairness they should be playing for no points this season and next (since they don't have any recent titles to be rescinded) and that would be going easy. Won't happen though, the NRL will give them a slap over the wrist because Sydney.

Originally posted by JoNeo:
What do you reckon went wrong?
Sutton/Reynolds/Luke etc sorely missed last night I feel
Napa had a blinder also
Not sure if Glen Stuart was playing,diddn't notice him ?
Eels / Raiders couldn't decide who to go for today
Went with Raiders in the end, should be a goodun
Also Warriors better come out to Plaaaaeyaaaay

Not sure but they did look directionless in attack, the way they just stood there and passed from one player to another when 5 or10m out with no one in motion was like watching a U/8 game. It really looked like they didn't know what to do and were just waiting for the last tackle so they could kick.
Don't know what it is with the eels, might just be a lack of combinations, on paper they have the backline to match anyone but just haven't clicked yet.