The latest circus surrounding the August 1 signing deadline has been addressed by the NRL, with reports that ARLC chairman Peter V’Landys is set to scrap the date and revert back to the original June 30 deadline.
The deadline was originally extended to account for the impacts of the Covid pandemic at a time when teams were forced to relocate and struggled to fill their roster without reserve grade squads to help with injury relief.
But this year we’ve seen a number of clubs experimenting with the system and attempting to gain advantages by gaming the set-up to their benefit. Lower-ranked teams have been able to offload players to try and free up more cap space while helping those players get experience in different systems under different coaches.
It’s also created an advantage for top-ranked sides including the Storm and Roosters, who are able to offer the promise of finals football to players who may already be thinking about their post-season plans at struggling clubs - as evidenced by their respective recruitment of David Nofoaluma and Oliver Gildart.
Fox Sports’ Paul Kent backed the move on NRL360, calling the current situation an ‘oversight’.
“The whole thing is a win for common sense,” Kent said.
“It needed to happen. I’m disappointed (the current situation) was allowed to happen this year. I think it was an oversight.
“This August 1 deadline is allowing teams to troubleshoot their rosters.
“Part of the game’s appeal is your 30-man roster gets you through the season, and it’s (about) the attrition and the endurance to last the season and get to the finals in a good state.”
“If you can’t do that for whatever reason, so be it. But it’s part of the magic of the competition.”