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Rivals attack Roosters’ US celebrations

Is this fair?

Published by
Dean Lucente

With the Sydney Roosters' grand final celebrations in the US were supported by the club, they are now expected to get reviewed by the NRL salary cap auditors.

The Roosters flew their whole squad to Los Angeles and Las Vegas to celebrate the season they had but rival clubs have wanted to know if the Roosters' generosity was included in their player salary cap or the football department salary cap, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

"I would have thought giving a player a $10,000 holiday was a benefit,'' one club official asked.

As the players have posted photos all over their social media accounts from Vegas this week, which include the skipper Boyd Cordner and fullback James Tedesco, it is believed that the Roosters have covered most of the cost for the first four days in LA.

The players trained while also taking in several sporting events.

With salary cap rules, the Roosters are allowed to pay for their players' holiday, provided that it is reasonable.

Three years ago, the North Queensland Cowboys funded a trip to Vegas for the squad after their premiership win over the Broncos in overtime.

The NRL will look into the clubs spend as they do for all clubs and will determine if the US trip was reasonable.

Many believe there is a difference between clubs paying for end of season trips and celebrations for teams that have just won a flag.

But the governing body believes that end of season trips do not lure new players to clubs and is a sign of praise to a squad that have worked hard all year for success.

With the expenses, the Roosters and every other club must not blow the budget and have until the end of 2020 to get it sorted.

Published by
Dean Lucente