Warriors could copy the Storm
If Kieran Foran decides to stay in Auckland the club could base its recruitment strategy around three highly paid superstars.
KIERAN Foran’s future plans could determine whether the Warriors follow the same successful model that the Melbourne Storm have operated under for the past decade.
The five-eighth has told the Warriors he’s in no rush to decide where he’ll play next season and isn’t in negotiations with any other club.
Clearly, the Warriors would like to keep hold of one of the best players in the world but Foran has to decide if he really wants to stay.
While the Warriors wait on Foran, they are in discussions with Shaun Johnson’s management about re-signing him beyond his current contract, which expires at the end of the season.
They would also like to keep Ata Hingano, who also comes of contract at the end of the current season.
Depending on who re-signs, it will shape the direction the club heads in for the next five years and will have implications for every player in the squad.
If the Warriors are able to keep Johnson and Foran, then along with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck that’s a considerable amount of the salary cap taken up by just three players.
Issac Luke and Simon Mannering would earn a fair chunk of what’s left over.
It would mean there’s not much left for the others but that’s not necessarily a bad situation, as the Storm have proved.
The Melbourne club are built around their three stars, Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk, who consume a large proportion of the Storm’s salary cap.
Because of this, players underneath have had to move on when the Storm can no longer pay them what they’re worth.
Kevin Proctor, Gareth Widdop, Ryan Hoffman, Justin O’Neill and Tohu Harris next year are among those who felt they needed to quit the club in order to be paid market value for their services.
It’s a model that relies on the club having great recruitment and development programmes.
Given the talent in New Zealand, it’s certainly something the Warriors could copy, especially with someone like Tony Iro looking after this area for them.
However, fans would have to get used to the best young players eventually being picked off by rival clubs.
Foran’s delay means he’ll have to sign a long-term deal with whichever club he goes to.
It’s been reported that his contract was $5 million over four years at the Eels.
He isn’t getting paid anything like that at the Warriors.
If all goes well though, he’ll be wanting what he’s worth in 2018.
But if he goes to the market in July looking for a one-year contract he’ll find that most clubs have already allocated a lot of where their money will go for 2018. So Foran will have to sign a multi-year deal, with the contract backloaded, giving his new club a season to offload other well-paid players.
But there is another issue affecting the signing of players at all 16 NRL clubs, which is that no one knows what the salary cap will be next year.
The salary cap for 2016 is $A7 million and is predicted to be upwards of $A9 million next year.
For players on the lower end of the pay scale, about $100,000 to $150,000, it’s not an issue as they can only usually expect to get a small jump in pay.
However, those who are coming off contract and on about $500,000 are waiting to find out if they are in line for a significant pay rise. And finally to Hinago. Clubs are desperate to pick up the talented 19-year-old, with the Storm believed to be leading the race.
There’s no doubting the fiveeighth’s talents, but he has the biggest decision of his life ahead of him.
Hingano must decide whether he wants to play more first grade footy, which he might be able to get elsewhere, or bide his time at the Warriors and learn all he can from from Johnson and potentially Foran.
But there is a backlog of halves at the Warriors, as well as Johnson and Foran, Tuimoala Lolohea wants to play there and he’ll leave when his contract expires at the end of next season if he doesn’t get his wish.
Mason Lino is unlikely to be kept on beyond this season but the club have signed under 20s halfback Chanel Harris-Tavita to a multi-year contract from next season.
So whichever way you look at it, big decisions need to be made in Penrose.