NRL executive chairman Peter V’landys has defended the integrity of the game’s salary cap as the PNG Chiefs prepare to take their tax-free chequebook to the November 1 player market which open in less than a week.
As reported by the Canberra Times V’landys says the NRL will not allow the cap to be manipulated by any club and reiterated that the PNG Chiefs must pay full market value for its players.
The comments follow last month’s move by the NRL salary cap auditor to reject the Chiefs’ original offer for Raiders forward Hudson Young which the NRL deemed to be below Young’s assessed market value.
While acknowledging the NRL would be open to case-by-case submissions from players seeking to revise their market value, V’landys revealed no such approach had been made so far by Hudson Young’s management in the lead-up to November 1.
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“It’s unfair on Canberra if they offer $1.1 million and he goes for $700,000 to Papua New Guinea, that’s all we’re trying to stop,” V’landys said.
“That’s why I came out publicly on this one (Hudson Young) because I wanted to make it known that the salary cap will not be manipulated.”
While Young is the first star to have a tax-free PNG offer rejected by the NRL, he’s unlikely to be the last given the Chiefs still have 23 spots on their 30-man roster to fill ahead of their 2028 NRL debut.
At a wider level, the situation around Young’s potential Chiefs contract has reignited salary cap fairness concerns ahead of November 1.
Given PNG’s ability to attract players with tax-free contracts, players will effectively be able to earn higher take-home incomes even when their salaries are lower than what’s being offered by their current club, or NRL rivals in Australia or New Zealand.
With November 1 now just six days away, all 18 NRL clubs will no doubt be watching the game’s salary cap auditor closely in the coming weeks and months.