Sonny Bill’s empty threat fools no one.

Sonny Bill Williams (SBW) has reportedly threatened to challenge the legality of the salary cap in a New South Wales court. According to Fox Sports in Australia, this can have huge consequences across Australia’s four codes of football, league, union, AFL and soccer. All four codes currently regulate to a salary cap created by each governing body. But if SBW’s challenge were to be successful, it is feared clubs may cease to exist by putting themselves out of business striving to be successful. The salary cap was put into place to prevent such incident occurring as well as making the competition more competitive. However, it won’t just be Australian sports that will suffer. Its likely Super League players will also challenge, and then English union players will copy until it snowballs out of hand and all professional sport becomes like the English Premier League. It’s boring, predictable and with a few dominant teams.

However that’s worse case scenario. The reality is SBW’s challenge won’t get off the ground, which will leave him in a rut over his future providing Canterbury get a move on with this injunction preventing him from playing elsewhere but for the Bulldogs. His argument though, that the salary cap is preventing trade is not quite as bullish as you might think.

There is currently no limit to how much an individual player can earn from his employers (or club), however all twenty five squad players salaries must fit under the (current) $4.1 million salary cap. But each club must also spend a minimum of (again, currently) $3.75 million. These figures are per year, so for example, if a player signs a contract for $2 million over a four year period, then his basic salary for one season is $500,000. However there is a restriction to individual player sponsorship and endorsements. This is where I think these restrictions should be dropped for reasons I’ll explain later. A player can earn as much as they like out of third party sponsorships, except if the sponsor is already sponsoring the club the player is playing for. Therefore, the player’s earnings from that sponsorship go towards the club and player’s salary cap. An example would be, Cronulla are sponsored by LG, the mobile phone and electronics manufacture. If, say Brett Kimmorley was sponsored by LG then the money he earns from them goes towards the salary cap. If, however Brett Kimmorley were sponsored by Adidas that has no connection to the Cronulla club what so ever, he could earn as much as he likes from that particular company.

Now, back to Sonny Bill Williams. While I see his point that he is not earning as much as he would like and what he is probably worth, and I sympathise with him on that, but I see the salary cap as an essential form of keeping the competition stronger and keeping the clubs financially stable as they can be. But if the restrictions on player sponsorship were to be abolished, I very much doubt SBW would be in a rush to earn a few extra pennies and catch the next Quantas plane to France. The fact of the matter is, top quality players know how much they are worth and want to release that potential. And for the sake of the game, the David Gallop and the NRL need to realise that as well.

Why? Well this could be the key to the NRL’s recent problems. If a high profile NRL player is seen to be advertising or supporting a product, then people will buy that product. This is good for the company, as well as the player’s club attendances as people are more inclined to watch that player. Take another example. A youngster sees Darren Lockyer wearing a Nike shirt on telly, in the newspapers or wherever. That kid will buy that top to be like Darren Lockyer. He will then go and watch Darren Lockyer and boost the Brisbane attendances. It can even work the other way round. A kid sees a player in a recent NRL game and is amazed by what he sees. He, or she, then sees that player advertising a pair of trainers. The child buys that pair of trainers and, more importantly, keeps coming back to the player’s club to watch that player play. Obviously we have to start with what we have got, and that is using current competition and club sponsors who already have firm relationships with the sport. As the sport gets bigger due to increased attendances, public interest and whatever then the NRL branches out and looks for sponsors on a national scale, as opposed to just Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. By looking for sponsors nationally, the game generates interest in Perth, Adelaide and everywhere else across Australia and eventually making it a truly national sport.

So there’s your problem, Gallop. Let the players earn what they deserve, and you won’t be seeing the likes of Danny Buderus, Micheal Crocker, Micheal Monaghan and Matt King deserting your competition for more money and a better lifestyle in Super League. As well as that, you won’t see Mark Gasnier and Sonny Bill Williams drifting off to join French rugby union either.

Focusing on Australia.

When I set this blog up, I intended it to cover all aspects of Rugby League. That includes foreign domestic competitions whenever any news should wind its way into my ears. But so far I have been increasingly taking any news from foreign competitions with a pinch of salt before turning the page in the League Express and start worrying about other things. This is especially true in the case of the NRL this year. So as Setanta Sports finally decide to show three regular season games for the first time this year in the build up to State of Origin II, I think its time I did a brief round up of how things are looking down under, starting with State of Origin II.

So it seems the Queensland selectors took my first piece of advice, drop Karmichael Hunt. Hunt has been selected to come off the bench for the maroons, probably to replace Billy Slater who somehow manages to keep the full back jersey. Steve Price meanwhile, is in for Carl Webb and a shuffle in the three-quarters means Darius Boyd is replacing Justin Hodges. But the big news is Darren Lockyer will play at five-eighth, however there is currently doubt over the fitness of Johnathan Thurston. Scott Prince has been drafted in as, what Mal Meninga calls “a safety net”.

South of the border, New South Wales were no doubt gutted to hear Jarryd Hayne will miss the second match and probably the series. Hayne received a three-match ban on Wednesday, which means he will have no chance of proving himself for selection in the lead up to the final match. Melbourne winger Steve Turner has been brought in to replace the Parramatta three-quarter. However the good news neutralises the bad, as Mark Gasnier was cleared to play centre for the blues after a hamstring scare. In the forwards, Craig Fitzgibbon starts at prop while Steve Simpson and Kurt Gidley will be benchwarmers for the second match. But after all of that I cannot see a blues victory, as the combination of Lockyer and Thurston will split the blues defence like an office paper shredder.

On the field, Sydney Roosters have had an impressive season after missing out on the play offs for the past two seasons. Brad Fittler showed last year his capabilities to be a coach guiding the Sydney side to a rather improved run of form compared to Chris Anderson’s. He has carried this on and managed to guide them to third place after seven games. Melbourne and Manly continue to dominate the head of the league ladder as well, just as they did last year but with more competition. Gold Coast have been the surprise form team this year in only their second season. Just missing out of the play offs in 2007, at one stage of the season they were leading the pack until a badly timed loss to Cronulla dropped them into joint second. Cronulla themselves were another side going strong in the early rounds of the competition, but never improved on early success slipping down a little before catching up with four other sides on sixteen points. Before the season started North Queensland were my tip for Grand Final glory. This seems to have been a mis-judgement as they are second to bottom above South Sydney, who are once again facing the wooden spoon after reaching the play offs last year for the first time since 1989.

Off-field its not good news for the Sydney clubs. NSW government has imposed new taxes, which are starting to cripple the leagues club’s income. Added to the factor of other laws such as a smoking ban and other similarities that are affecting British pubs in this country. League clubs are such a major source of income for Sydney based clubs due to the high amount of competition for supporters, as there are many different teams and sports going on in Sydney. Apart from the nine NRL clubs, there is the AFL’s Sydney Swans, Super 14’s New South Wales Waratahs, Sydney FC participating in the A-League and the New South Wales Blues in cricket. Although the last two are played in the Australian summer, it is still a burden on spectator’s pockets. So what do the Aussies do? Relocate a few Sydney sides? No. Do you not remember the ambitious idea Super League had in 1997? The three expansion clubs didn’t go down too well in Perth, Adelaide and Auckland. Melbourne came after the Super League War and, with league official’s brain in gear after successful attendances in State of Origin matches played at the MCG. But apart from stints eleven years ago, the ARL hasn’t really tried to expand the sport further apart than the eastern states. If the NRL were to relocate, the ARL has to start playing State of Origin matches in Perth, Adelaide and Darwin first, before setting up a club to locate there on a regular basis. But this is a complex idea for the stability of NRL clubs, whoever and wherever they may be. Not necessarily a solution.

Many happy returns to Australian Rugby League.

The best domestic competition in world Rugby League kicked off last week when South Sydney faced rival team Sydney Roosters. It was no coincidence that two of the Australian founder clubs (Roosters then being Eastern Suburbs) were to begin the centenary season down under. It was all smiles and jubilations as the two teams got stuck into each other like flour and butter. However, the injury to Craig Wing saw fans up in arms about the legality of tackling from behind. Wing was left with a dislocated shoulder after Riley Brown’s shoulder charge knocked it out of its socket. Now while this caused a stir, I stood back and looked at the tackle on a well known video sharing website. Having seen the footage that was broadcast on Channel Nine, the two Roosters’ players are about to complete the tackle when Brown hits Wing. Wing is crouched down attempting to get down and play the ball, but the only parts of his body touching the grass are his feet, added to the fact he is still moving trying to get to the ground. Therefore Brown’s tackle is legal, even if it is completely unnecessary.

The reason the NRL is the best in the world is due to brilliantly executed tries and humungous tackles. There is no finer example of huge hits than Josh Perry’s tackle on Ben Ross in the Manly V Cronulla match at Brookvale Oval. The tackle knocked Ross out cold and the Cronulla player missed the rest of the game with the possibility of missing at least one more. Perry however, did not come out of the tackle lightly. As Perry attempted to tackle Ross, both players clashed heads which is actually why Ross was knocked out. Perry came out of it with a nasty cut above his eye that was running with blood. In that match, Manly lost despite taking the lead. There was no real reason for them to lose it except Cronulla wanted to take the two points back to their beach. They basically played the better rugby after Ben Ross was taken from the field.

It was business as usual at Suncorp Stadium. Not for Brisbane, but for Penrith. They took the wooden spoon last year and look favourites to take it again after their abysmal performance against Wayne Bennett’s side, where Cory Parker broke the club record for the most number of goals scored in a single match. The second rower scored ten from ten beating Darren Lockyer’s and other former players’ record of nine from nine. Petero Civoniceva played against his old club for his new club and was the only Penrith player who had a half decent game.

Billy Slater’s hat-trick within twenty five minutes formed the foundations of a Melbourne win in their first home game since their Grand Final victory against Manly back in October. Played at the Telstra Dome in front of just over twenty thousand (making the overall attendance for an opening NRL round another record) who saw New Zealand Warriors fight until the death. The score line may actually look flattering to the New Zealand side, who had Steve price ruled out for eight weeks, as they struggled to compete with last year’s Premiers. Controversy was avoided just before the second half kicked off as Melbourne failed to return onto the pitch when the Warriors did, making the away side wait for the restart. New Zealand eventually made Melbourne wait for the kick off as they retreated to the sideline for a drink just as the home team walked out of the tunnel. The delay meant there was a half time period of just over eighteen minutes.

As it is Easter this week, Setanta Sports have delivered us English fans of the game a treat. There will be a double header on Saturday 22^nd March with Penrith taking on Canberra at 06:30 GMT, and Newcastle hosting Manly straight after until 10:30. As for the Sunday game, well no one seems to know. Setanta say they are showing Canberra V St George Illawarra (tough week for Canberra) while another site says SKY NZ will show New Zealand V Parramatta at a completely different KO time. Seeing as only one of those fixtures is right, I’d put my money on it being NZ V Eels. 02:45 GMT start, KO fifteen minutes later. But don’t hold me on that.