Should Sam Burgess be medically retired from the NRL due to his shoulder injury, the Rabbitohs could offer him a 10-year contract to work in the club's football administration.
Burgess is currently on a $3.6 million deal at the Bunnies over the next three years, although The Daily Telegraph understands South Sydney could stretch those dollars over the next 10 years (at $360,000 a year) to train him.
The Englishman is getting set for life after football, and has also signed a new deal at Fox Sports.
The NRL is set to push through his medical retirement by the end of the week, freeing up cap space for the Rabbitohs for 2020 and beyond.
Mmmm the smell of rotten fish heads wafting out of NRL head office through moore park and into redfern. How does the NRL and souffths even think they could get away with that?
This is nothing new, just a beat-up because there is not much news in NRL at the moment. Most clubs have ex-players working for them at something for their club. Next……
Yes but most clubs don’t get cap relief of $3.6m for pre existing injuries and for two key players in the same year and then try to disguise it as a job after retirement with the help of the NRL. LOL.
Not you again!
If Burgess is medically retired then he is entitled to his 3.6 million. He is not required to be Souths slave for 10 years to get his money.
However if the NRL do the right thing and reject Souths claim of salary Cap relief, then this is Crowes sneaky way of paying him for a job like that does not exist.
Russell Crowe does not need brown paper bags under the table when he has this system in place of a 3.6m retirement fund.
SBW is on 5m per season, Sam Burgess is on 3.8m per season. No brown paper bags needed with this out in the open cheat tactic.
Ropeable the cap relief and the job are two different issues. It is only the media trying to link them.
Nothing sneaky about it Adamhoward. If the NRL don’t allow cap relief then his contract will count against the cap for the next 3 years. If the club pays that over 10 years that is between them and Burgess. All perfectly legitimate.
Who gets paid $360k a year to do that. Thatโs just delayed contract payments. Should be included in the cap regardless. They really should ban players from taking up roles with rich clubs immediately after retiring. Completely incredulous but the nrl will sweep it under the rug like everything else.
I agree Butters. The only thing is all clubs are rich, simply because the Nrl give every club more than the salary cap every year.
Just ban all clubs from doing it then.
Go ahead and let the Bunnies medically retire Burgess, at the same time though you must allow the Doggies to medically retire Foran
peter i agree with you 100% but Foran doesn’t want to retire and that is where the problem lays
Looks like a lot of kids here jumping around. It has to do with the tax. A one off payment of 3.6 Million will incur much more tax. If he gets 360K per year, he can better plan for the tax, and may end up paying no tax at all. It is a Win-win situation,
Happy for him to work at Souths for the next 10 years and earn his contract money. Donโt believe he should be medically retired though as it is the same as Matai at Manly who was refused. Brett Stewart was also rejected
The Job is questionable like Farah at the Tigers
There canโt be anyone who thinks this is ok.
Who cares what he does after this is settled. He is either medically retired or isnโt.
And no person including rabbits supporters could actually think this should be a medical retirement.
If NRL approve this, it will become even more of a laughing stock and we will see more and more of these ridiculous contracts happening as there is no consequence in it..
of course he does
“And no person including rabbits supporters could actually think this should be a medical retirement.”.
Dr. Bob, are you actually qualified to make that call?
As per numerous previous posts I’ve made on the subject, I think this case needs to be looked at closely, given his age, the (potential) off field sitauation etc, but i can’t make a call.
Cmon eelsalmighty you know its a scam.
This plan by Souths demonstrates yet another way around the salary cap, particularly where the target player is near the end of his career.
Just sign him on a contract that fits under your cap for a couple of years, and then top it up with a salary for the next five to ten years for working as an assistant coach, skills coach, trainer, etc. After a year or so terminate his new employment contract and pay him out if need be.
It’s time the NRL recognised that there are so many ways around the cap that it’s a waste of time and should be scrapped. Let market forces rule in the open instead of behind the current screen of smoke and mirrors.
But that isn’t what they are doing. Sam was signed to play under the cap. He now can’t play. This is a way of him still being paid, but not as a player. What you are referring to would have been if they signed Sam for a 3 year deal below his market value, but topped it up with employment after the deal, a totally different scenario.
Hi Eels. I’m not specifically referring to the Burgess situation, just putting it out there that this would probably work.
Pay a player what you can afford under the salary cap while he’s playing and then top it up post retirement in the guise of employment. I’m not aware of any limitations on clubs employing players in some other capacity once they retire from the game.
TheRopeableRooster
December 5, 2019 at 1:41 am
“Cmon eelsalmighty you know its a scam”
A sombrero supporter accusing Souths of scamming.
Have to admit I almost took the bait.๐คฃ๐คฃ
Fair enough Barry. I also see this as a loophole, which I think is why the NRL requires the club to disclose any such arrangemnts. I am pretty sure that is why the Tigers got fined over the Farah one, because they didn’t disclose it.
I don’t have a problem with the whole jobs for the boys things at clubs, at the end of the day they are entitled to spend their money how they see fit. But I do agree that it should not be s compensation for lowballing their final contract.
For me I think there is nothing wrong with clubs finding high paying jobs to cover their contract if they have been retired due to injury doesnโt matter if it was a pre existing injury or a new injury. No one has rubbished the broncos for quickly retiring Gillette thereโs now problems for them and they have used his money to get broody Croft to the club. I do believe that the bulldogs do 100% deserve compensation for Formanโs contract money exempt from their cap until he is fit enough to come back and play.
I have not one problem at all letโs say player Z is on $1m a year for 5 years and he has to be retired in the second season of his 5 year deal so club X has the duty of care to pay for the rest of his contract and if thatโs a job at the club than so be it. The club can hire him as an ambassador and be on good money for a good period of time.
They can pay the burg eye a zillion dollars a year to do whatever they want him to do after he retires. BUT the point is his original contract values per year MUST continue to be counted in the clubs cap. No BS exemptions for pre existing injuries.