Kat lost her drive
Big signings plus cuts all wrong raps Carvell
PLAYERS union boss Garreth Carvell has called for a ban on Super League signings while clubs are asking players to take pay cuts.
The head rep for the GMB union, which represents 85 per cent of top-flight players, is confident the competition will restart on August 2 despite fears clubs won’t have agreed terms by then.
But he says players have been angered by clubs making high-profile recruits, such as John Bateman to Wigan and Greg Inglis to Warrington, during the current talks and wants the RFL to
■ put a temporary ban on it. Carvell said: “Clubs signing players at the same time as asking others to take cuts doesn’t sit well with me or any of the players.
“I can understand why they’re aggrieved about it.
“We’ve spoken to the RFL about putting a stop to recruitment while this is going on. “We are not talking about like-for-like swaps but when they’re just adding to their squads while cuts are going on I don’t think anybody would think that’s fair.” Warrington prop Mike Cooper revealed this week that only three clubs had agreed fresh terms with their squads.
That led to fears about the competition not being able to restart on schedule.
But Carvell says that number has since increased and hopes all 12 teams will reach an agreement by the end of tomorrow.
Carvell has also started to lobby the Government to make part of the £16m loan the sport was awarded into a grant, easing pressure on clubs to pay it back.
He said: “That could be a gamechanger for the sport.
“Considering what the Government is investing in the arts, a £16m grant to save a whole sport seems a small amount.”
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FERNANDO ALONSO insists age will not be a factor when he makes his F1 return with Renault next year.
The double world champion, 39 later this month, could be the oldest driver on the grid.
But he said: “I never had a race classification based on the passport, date of birth – always on the stopwatch.”
KATARINA Johnsonthompson admits she struggled to find motivation after this year’s Tokyo Olympics were postponed.
Britain’s world champion heptathlete said: “I thought, ‘What’s the point in going to training?’
“And then I found, when I had a week off, I missed it.”
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NOVAK DJOKOVIC is still undecided about playing in next month’s US Open.
Djokovic (right) plans to play in Madrid, then Rome and the French Open.
He’s called criticism after he caught coronavirus a “malicious witch-hunt”.