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#Post#: 66951--------------------------------------------------
Re: Marquee Players across the Prem?
DIR By: DOK
Date: May 26, 2021, 4:09 pm
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From the Telegraph
HTML https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2020/06/08/premiership-clubs-agree-slash-salary-cap-5m-2021-22-season/
Premiership clubs agree to slash salary cap to £5m for 2021-22
season
Figure, which currently stands at £7m, will be cut temporarily
and, after incremental increases, will return to present level
in 2024-25
By Daniel Schofield,
DEPUTY RUGBY UNION CORRESPONDENT
8 June 2020 • 6:38pm
The agreement has enough flexibility and is temporary, allowing
Bristol to hang on to players such as Charles Piutau during his
current deal
Premiership clubs have unanimously agreed to slash temporarily
the salary cap to £5 million for the 2021-22 season in a bid to
avert financial oblivion.
The number of marquee players, whose salary is not counted
towards the salary cap, will also be reduced from two to one for
the 2022-23 season. While players’ salary levels in their
current contracts will be protected, the next round of
negotiations could lead to an exodus of leading players.
Saracens, for example, will struggle to retain England stars
Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, Jamie George, Elliot Daly and the
Vunipola brothers while making £1.4 m of savings.
With their team-mate George Kruis already heading to Japan, one
leading agent predicts the Premiership will lose its destination
status for domestic and overseas players once the cuts kick in.
“Japan has really opened up as a destination for
northern-hemisphere players,” the agent said. “They have the
money behind them and have become the dominant financial market.
The Top 14 will continue to be a market because you have
billionaires like [Mohed] Altrad and [Jacky] Lorenzetti. They
will pay more for quality players. Even if you look at Pro 14 at
Leinster, Munster, Ulster if they go out to get a non-Irish
player they will pay the money to get a quality player. The
Premiership could get left behind pretty quickly.”
It is hoped that the reduction will save several clubs facing
existential threats caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The
salary cap currently stands at £7m, including credits which
amount to £600,000, and that will remain in place for the
remainder of the current season and the following 2020-21
campaign. After reducing the base level by £1.4m in the
2021-22 season, the cap will be increased gradually so it
returns to its present limit by the 2024-25 season. There will
also be a series of additional credits for fielding English
qualified players and providing players to the England squad
amounting to £1m.
Although the agreement was unanimous at a board meeting on
Monday morning, divisions remain entrenched between the 13
clubs. An announcement was prepared for Monday afternoon only
for infighting to break out over the wording of the statement.
An official release is expected to be made on Tuesday.
Clubs such as Bristol, who were opposed to reducing the salary
cap, were won over by the promise that the changes would be
temporary. There is also a mechanism that will allow all
existing contracts will be honoured where only 75 per cent of
their salaries will count towards the salary cap from the
2021-22 season. Hence Bristol will not be forced to offload big
earners such as Semi Radradra, Kyle Sinckler and Charles Piutau
during their current deals. The Telegraph understands that
Bristol will not be forced to impose a blanket 25 per cent pay
cut on their squad as several other clubs are proposing.
Even with those compromises, the cuts are likely to lead to a
period of severe retrenchment in the next round of contract
negotiations. Yet the greatest priority in the board meeting was
survival. There is no doubt that the Premiership, as it
currently operates, is unsustainable. Lord Myners’ recently
published report into the salary cap revealed clubs collectively
lost £89m in just two years.
Harlequins chief executive Laurie Dalrymple is adamant that
change had to happen, even before the coronavirus pandemic
struck. “We knew before Covid that, financially, the structure
of rugby is fractured,” Dalrymple said. “It’s not working. We
need to commercialise our sport far better than we have been,
and that is not something for just Harlequins, we all need to
look at how we are generating money into the sport as well as
spending it.
"The salary cap is there to protect the financial security of
the club and the league - and at the minute, it is not doing
that. I think it has to be lowered in keeping of what will make
the clubs sustainable. But also if we lower it, we have to be
cognisant of the fact that when we do get our sport operating
commercially, we have to then raise it appropriately and fairly
as well.”
Whether the changes will kick in fast enough to save all 13
clubs, some of which are already teetering on the brink of
insolvency, is another matter.
#Post#: 66985--------------------------------------------------
Re: Marquee Players across the Prem?
DIR By: RhubarbAndGustard
Date: May 27, 2021, 9:24 am
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This is partly speculation but it’s probably hard to pinpoint
who the marquee players are as clubs probably rotate their
marquee players already at the club and overload their salaries
that year. For example:
Quins will have Andre as an overseas marquee
Then Care, Brown, Marler, Smith will all be the other marquee
signing over a 4 year cycle, where they heavily overload one
year of Player X’s salary to cover the 3 years when they aren’t
the designated marquee player. I’d suspect Exeter do similar
with their international players.
It was a few years back but I’ve definitely heard of something
similar happening but can’t remember the in’s and out’s of it.
#Post#: 66999--------------------------------------------------
Re: Marquee Players across the Prem?
DIR By: Brown Bottle
Date: May 27, 2021, 9:58 am
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--- Quote from: RhubarbAndGustard link ---
>
> This is partly speculation but it’s probably hard to pinpoint
who the marquee players are as clubs probably rotate their
marquee players already at the club and overload their salaries
that year. For example:
>
> Quins will have Andre as an overseas marquee
> Then Care, Brown, Marler, Smith will all be the other marquee
signing over a 4 year cycle, where they heavily overload one
year of Player X’s salary to cover the 3 years when they aren’t
the designated marquee player. I’d suspect Exeter do similar
with their international players.
>
> It was a few years back but I’ve definitely heard of something
similar happening but can’t remember the in’s and out’s of it.
>
--- End Quote ---
The regulations are designed to prevent "overloading" by
averaging out the players salary such as to make it pointless.
#Post#: 67035--------------------------------------------------
Re: Marquee Players across the Prem?
DIR By: SAWtf
Date: May 27, 2021, 3:57 pm
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I am a friendly Saracens fan. I have no energy to talk past
faults, but will try point out a few bits. I copied this from
sports network.
Since our transgressions became apparent the following have
left, or will be leaving, for varying reasons.
Brad Barritt, Liam Williams, Richard Wigglesworth, George Kruis,
Will Skelton, Ben Spencer, Rhys Carre, Juan Figallo, Titi
Lamositele, Jack Singleton, Matt Gallagher, Tom Whiteley, Ali
Crossdale, Joe Gray. 6 of those were starters in 2019 finals, 1
on bench.
We signed half a dozen players to help see us through
(hopefully) Championship season. Aled Davies is our only higher
profile signing, most of the rest will have been on a one year
contract. Some, such as Harry Sloan, have already signed
elsewhere for next season.
Squad for next year will have nowhere near the depth of 2019.
#Post#: 67037--------------------------------------------------
Re: Marquee Players across the Prem?
DIR By: JammyGit
Date: May 27, 2021, 4:10 pm
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You will be getting a fair few back from loan though, right? So
you'll still have a lot of big money players:
Mako, George, Koch, Itoje, Billy, Earl, Farrell, Daly, Lozowski,
Goode, Maitland, Taylor, Isiekwe, Tompkins, Malins
(appreciate some might just be on 'good' rather than
'many-times-capped international and Lion/world cup winner'
wages)
but it's true the depth beyond that will be much worse, even if
those youngster coming through look like fine players. That's a
hell of a lot of talent being paid for still. Will be
interesting to see how Sarries cope during international windows
though given they'll likely lose a chunk of players as usual
without quite the same level of backup as before.
#Post#: 67038--------------------------------------------------
Re: Marquee Players across the Prem?
DIR By: SAWtf
Date: May 27, 2021, 4:19 pm
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We are getting 5 back, Earl, Malins, Lozowski, Isiekwe, and
Goode.
The international windows will be difficult, but I guess fair.
Checking the squad list it seems comparable for season to the
league.
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