Should rugby league have a transfer window? RLWC crowd
TALKS over a possible transfer window in the NRL have stalled, but maybe it's time both they and Super League get one implemented.
The NRL Player Association is against the introduction of a transfer window, with the current system providing maximum freedom for players to move around.
But clubs have grown frustrated at losing some of their star names to deals announced almost a year in advance.
Currently, from November 1, out of contract NRL players can agree moves elsewhere. Penrith and Fiji star Viliame Kikau secured a second successive NRL Grand Final winners medal, but already knew this time last year that he would be playing for Canterbury Bulldogs in 2023. Him being spotted wearing a Bulldogs jersey before the 2022 season even started for some promo, did not go down well. And nor should it.
Kikau's team-mate Api Koroisau was announced as a marquee signing by Wests Tigers for 2023, barely weeks after he had won the 2021 Grand Final with Penrith, and some 16 months before he'll pull on a Tigers jersey.
The feeling is somewhat different for fans of struggling clubs, when they perceive players to have their mind elsewhere when they've already agreed to move to a rival at the season's end.
Transfer deadline day
The current state of play in Super League is a little less controversial. The anti-tampering deadline is May 1, having previously been September 1. This means that from that date, players out of contract at the end of the season can speak to other clubs.
Their existing clubs also have a deadline to make clear whether they intend to offer a deal for the new season or not. The closest we have to “transfer deadline day” currently is the registration deadline, after which no clubs can add further players to their squad. This is usually around the end of July.
It largely passes without a great deal of movement or interest, given squads are relatively settled and focused on the end of season run-in by then. And of course, the majority of player movement happens at the end of contracts, typically in the winter. In theory, in a salary cap sport, introducing specific windows for player movement could well make that side of it easier to manage. It could add greater attention to the movement of players, with football in particular boasting a seismic interest in transfer activity both in and out of their transfer window.
Of course, the player pool in rugby league is minute in comparison, as are the finances to create transfer fees; meaning paid for deals are less likely to happen. But maybe that would add greater value to player contracts; players might be more inclined to sign shorter deals, or demand more for committing long-term, knowing that they would always have options to move on.
Key points of NRL transfer window proposal
Players have to be in final year of contract to negotiate
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Window opens after Grand Final and closes Monday before Round 1
Mid-season window opens from Monday after Round 10 to Monday after Origin IIII
Clubs can re-sign players at any time
The proposal Down Under is for there to be a transfer window from the day after the Grand Final until the next season kicks off – with then a month-long window in the middle of the season.
Players aren't happy with those suggestions, with Australia hooker Harry Grant arguing that players shouldn't be in a situation where they have to wait until October each year to find out where they will play the following year. But others, including coaching legend Wayne Bennett, say the current system is a joke.
Former Australia international Billy Moore said last year: “Anyone who looks into the fish bowl that is rugby league sees that contracts have become meaningless. The system is a disgrace.
“The biggest losers are the fans and sponsors and the only person who benefits from it is the player's manager.
“It's a fallacy to say when the (contract's final) season ends you can't go find a new club and move your family if you need to. You look at the AFL and the English Premier League and the amount of publicity they generate is extraordinary,” Moore said.
Another suggestion is that clubs should receive further salary cap discounts for their homegrown players. Australian journalist Paul Sutter said: “The NRL should introduce a system where the salary for any player who made their NRL debut at the club should get a 5% discount for every year of continuous service at that team.
“CEOs would be less reluctant to punt a club stalwart to take a risk on a younger recruit from another team and players would be less inclined to think the grass is greener elsewhere if they know they'll be of more value to their club if they stick around long term.”
Could a transfer window work in the UK?
The contract situation in the UK is somewhat impacted by promotion and relegation. One of the arguments for removing relegation is to avoid the situation where players are left without a job when their team drops out of Super League. There are also some who say that it creates a cycle where players simply move around clubs who go up and down.
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THE 2021 Rugby League World Cup double-header finals at Old Trafford saw a crowd of 67,502, taking the aggregate for the men's tournament past 400,000.
The aggregate of just over 400,000 falls below the record of 453,483 established for the last tournament in England in 2013. The 2021 opener between England and Samoa saw a crowd of 43,199 at St James' Park, with a further 13,366 at Headingley Stadium for Australia versus Fiji, breaking an opening day record. The double header back in 2013 at the then-Millennium Stadium in Cardiff recorded a crowd of 45,052 as Australia defeated England, before Italy claimed a 32-16 victory over Wales. The 2013 final between Australia and New Zealand at Old Trafford also saw a crowd of 74,468, although 2021 World Cup chief Jon Dutton remained upbeat, insisting this year's brought in three times the revenue. The men's 2021 RLWC saw an aggregate of 423,789, beating the 382,080 total from the 2017 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Comparisons for 2013 and 2021 in the men's tournament. RLWC group stages
New Zealand's first game of the 2013 tournament came against Samoa at the Halliwell Jones Stadium with 14,965 in attendance. It's well over the recorded attendance for their opening clash in 2022, with a disappointing 5453 against Lebanon at the same venue. France played Greece in their debut year in the competition in front of a crowd 4182 at Doncaster.
Their opening 2013 game came against Papua New Guinea at Craven Park, with 7481 in attendance. France also played two games on home soil back in 2013. 17,518 spectators in Avignon against New Zealand and 11,576 in Perpignan against Samoa.
The 2013 World Cup also saw games taken to Cumbria – something that was scrapped this tournament. 7630 attended Workington's Derwent Park to witness Scotland beat Tonga 26-24. At the same venue, 7280 saw Scotland and Italy draw 30-30. This year, the Bravehearts played two of their games at Kingston Park, Newcastle, with crowds of 6,206 vs Italy and 6736 against Fiji. The lowest crowd of the 2013 tournament came in Neath, with 3270 for Wales against Cook Islands. 3675 was this year's at Kingston Park as Fiji defeated Italy 60-4. 2013 also saw a game taken to Limerick, as 5021 witnessed Australia against Ireland. England's attendances Elsewhere in 2013, England recorded attendances of 24,375 in Huddersfield against Ireland and 25,114 in Hull against Fiji. In the delayed 2021 tournament, Sheffield hosted its first rugby league fixture between England and Greece with a crowd of 18,760. This year also saw a record attendance of 23,648 between England and France in Bolton.
Quarter-finals
The 2013 quarter-finals saw an accumulative crowd of 57,011, an average of 14,252 between the four games.
This year recorded 51,139 – the largest coming at the DW Stadium with 23,179 as England defeated Papua New Guinea. It was the biggest attendance ever recorded for a single quarter-final fixture.
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