Reports earlier in the week indicated that the Wests Tigers have requested confirmation that Stefano Utoikamanu's new contract with the Melbourne Storm is within salary cap guidelines.
The former Origin prop spurned the competition's lowest ranked side in favour of the team currently topping the NRL ladder.
The Tigers thinking is reportedly due to the fact the Tigers offered the most competitive (i.e. richest) deal of the three clubs chasing his services.
This, along with a series of other moves, has fans of the lower clubs asking whether the salary cap is "broken"?
I can understand the sentiment, to a point.
This season alone we have seen Parramatta Eels young gun Blaize Talagi walk across western Sydney from Parramatta to the foot out of the mountains.
The Wests Tigers have lost rep forwards Isaiah Papali'i and Stefano Utoikamanu to the high flying Panthers and Storm respectively.
The entire idea of the salary cap is to ensure an equal distribution of talent.
Which is exactly what it is doing.
Don't get me wrong, as a neutral I'm never happy to see the rich get richer.
The Panthers have nabbed two stars. As a Sharks fan, that isn't good. In fact that's horrible news.
Meanwhile the thought of Craig Bellamy getting his hands on a player of Utoikamanu's talents is downright frightening.
That said, these are outliers and very easily counterbalanced.
Take the Tigers for instance. They have added Jarome Luai and Sunia Turuva to their ranks in 2024.
With the greatest of respects to the Tigers as a club, there's no chance the likes of Luai and Turuva would be willing to swap guaranteed title contention for a rebuild if money wasn't an issue.
Luai has three titles, four grand finals and looks set for a fifth. He has a stack of rep jumpers as a result of his Penrith tenure. He's earned the right to cash in.
Penrith couldn't get near the Tigers offer. If they could, there's no way he's leaving Penrith and his partnership with Nathan Cleary.
The Tigers were able to entice David Klemmer to exit his contract with the Knights to make the move to Sydney. Reports are that was money related also.
They were also able to pay a "get out" clause to Wigan to bring John Bateman back to the NRL. There's no way the Panthers are in a position to be able to do that.
Rumours of Brian To'o exiting Penrith were purely money based.
Another member of their dynasty team, To'o has seen the likes of Stephen Crichton, Matt Burton, Viliame Kikau (all to the Bulldogs) leave and cash in on their talents.
To'o is well within his right, if he can obtain a release, to become the highest paid winger in the competition at a club like the Tigers.
Again, if there's no salary cap, I can't see a world in which the aforementioned players leave their post with Penrith.
Craig Bellamy has been the master of using the cap to it's fullest potential (... pause for laughter!)
Aside from the obvious, Bellamy has been able to maintain his superstar spine, all of whom are on top dollar, then fill his squad out with lower paid players.
He has turned the likes of Nick Meaney, Eliesa Katoa and Tyran Wishart into stars.
How many times have we seen a player star for Melbourne, only to move on because of ... you guessed it, the salary cap!?
I genuinely don't think the salary cap is broken, and is just used better by some clubs.
Referring back to Utoikamanu, Melbourne's entire pitch could have been "we're not the Tigers".
I say that, somewhat, in jest, but it is a harsh reality.
Utoikamanu needed to get away from the Tigers to enjoy a fresh start. Just as we've seen with Luke Brooks.
Brooks wanted out from the Tigers for many years now. He was linked to Newcastle on numerous occasions. It is no surprise that he is playing lights out footy without the shackles of the orange and black on his back.
Again, it's harsh but we've seen Ryan Matterson exit, we've seen Lachlan Galvin request a release before his fifth NRL game ... it's a trend.
I don't mean to pick on the Tigers either.
Blaize Talagi is the Eels most promising youngster. I had Parra supporting mates drop messages into group chats that read some version of "terrible season but at least we unearthed Talagi".
Despite incoming coach Jason Ryles offering Talagi the fullback role and a long-term deal, no amount of money was going to overcome the lure of partnering Nathan Cleary in the halves.
The Dogs have been able to amass an almighty roster thanks to signing stars on higher money than they could have obtained at their previous clubs.
Penrith have been able to overcome losing millions of dollars of talent. Chrichton, Kikau, Burton, Koroisau. Add to that Luai, Fisher-Harris and Turuva. Potentially To'o too.
Yet they remain premiership favourites, and favourites to win a fourth straight title.
It's not always about money but I do believe the cap is doing a relatively good job of evening things out.
It's up to the clubs to use their caps better. Sounds simple but again, another harsh truth!
