Re: RFL has released its policy review document : Sat Oct 12, 2013 6:09 am  

Saddened! wrote:

Why on earth are they planning to let the Championship clubs increase their cap by 200%. Absolutely crazy, they all lose money as it is. Unless they are getting a massive slice of the TV money it's just lunacy surely, unless I'm missing something?

No you have it spot on, the RFL are cutting the funding to super league clubs to Fund the extra expense to the top championship clubs.

The biggest confusion i have with all of this is we have a salary cap to keep it a level playing field but in the championship they are willing to give some clubs extra funding so how is that a level playing field? Its just going to mirror super league the same top 6 teams every season.

Re: RFL has released its policy review document : Sat Oct 12, 2013 6:10 am  

Dux wrote:

All of this is likely to come to nothing if the rebel clubs get their way.

you do realize that saints is one of them right?

Re: RFL has released its policy review document : Sat Oct 12, 2013 10:10 am  

I think the RFL was going to increase funding to the 2nd tier. Hence the moan from the SL clubs about having their money diluted.

It would not cover the full gap, but it allows for an ambitious club like Featherstone with backers who can cover the difference to try and make the step up.

Re: RFL has released its policy review document : Sat Oct 12, 2013 10:29 am  

FearTheVee wrote:

Is the difference employers nic contributions?

IIRC the reduction to £1.6m was done when removing the NICs. I'm guessing that it was possibly something to do with that EBT tax dodge that many clubs were involved with. I'm presuming it also prevented a few clubs going over the cap when they paid any past debt to HMRC.

Re: RFL has released its policy review document : Sat Oct 12, 2013 10:57 am  

The problem within the game is this. You have six clubs who are all pretty equal in terms of stadia owned or rented and income streams, sometimes like Huddersfield heavily subsidized by an individual and playing standards. Widnes and Salford have the infrastructure but not quite the playing potential.

Then we have the blur, Castleford and Wakefield for instance, protected by the concept of no relegation but have these clubs got more within their business than Leigh and Halifax?

So Leigh Halifax and Featherstone are in real limbo, they tick the boxes of the bottom four or five in super league but are left to play great traditional clubs like Hunslet who now for instance play at an athletics track with one stand only that holds around 1500 and they draw 400 a week to watch them. The risk is the three above lose the fan base and eventually their business and we continue with a stale split super league and a lower competition which will be competitive but the clubs like Hunslet Batley and Hornets could never be strong enough to sustain anything than basic part time operations. If you look at the game as a business model it is quite frightening unless something is done.

Re: RFL has released its policy review document : Sat Oct 12, 2013 12:49 pm  

The Chair Maker wrote:

The document states clearly that the cap is to stay at its present level of £1.825 million.
So this would appear to be another area of misunderstanding between fans and governing body.

It does indicate that while the RFL is quite open in publicising documents. Its not very good at accurately getting the message across to the fans in general.

I do suspect myself that in some areas that the clubs are to blame for this, as its often in their interest to spread misinformation regarding the salary cap, to keep fans off their backs about why they are not signing players, or letting players leave.

its the tax, its taken at source from the £1.825, leaves you with the lower figure.

Re: RFL has released its policy review document : Sat Oct 12, 2013 12:56 pm  

bewareshadows wrote:

I think the RFL was going to increase funding to the 2nd tier. Hence the moan from the SL clubs about having their money diluted.

It would not cover the full gap, but it allows for an ambitious club like Featherstone with backers who can cover the difference to try and make the step up.

Taken from the Halifax Courier.
It is we clubs who own Super League not the RFL and Wigan for one do not want to see our millions of pounds of investment in Super League distributed to a further 10 clubs beyond the current 14,” said Lenagan.

Re: RFL has released its policy review document : Sat Oct 12, 2013 2:04 pm  

Billinge_Lump wrote:

IIRC the reduction to £1.6m was done when removing the NICs. I'm guessing that it was possibly something to do with that EBT tax dodge that many clubs were involved with. I'm presuming it also prevented a few clubs going over the cap when they paid any past debt to HMRC.

Its £1.6m bumped up the £1.8m if you meet homegrown/ playing for England criteria which allows the bit extra

Re: RFL has released its policy review document : Sat Oct 12, 2013 4:13 pm  

And of course the players union would be dead against this as more players in the championship earning better wages, would lead to a more competitive environment for the players union as they would no longer be representing the majority of full time professionals, just the bigger wage earners. So it will become like the bankers union.

Not much sympathy for them!!!

Re: RFL has released its policy review document : Sat Oct 12, 2013 7:24 pm  

bewareshadows wrote:

And of course the players union would be dead against this as more players in the championship earning better wages, would lead to a more competitive environment for the players union as they would no longer be representing the majority of full time professionals, just the bigger wage earners. So it will become like the bankers union.

Not much sympathy for them!!!

Does the players union just represent SL players?