Salary cap considerations may cause some of the National Rugby League’s biggest stars to suffer a drop in income in 2018.
That is the opinion of sports management guru Steve Gillis, who is currently serving as the president of the Players Agents Association.
Gillis, commenting as the NRL discussion period, where clubs are permitted to talk with players coming off contract after the 2017 season, notes that there is some consternation arising from the fact that the 2018 salary cap presents some unknown factors that may work to the detriment of players.
More than 200 players will be off contract following 2017 and stars are facing the prospect of not being able to get top dollar for their services.
Gillis expects the affected players to be rather militant about the situation. The uncertainty centers around the fact that the NRL has yet to release 2018 cap figures while in the midst of the ongoing collective bargaining talks.
If the delay in arriving at the 2018 salary cap figures takes as long as rumoured, some saying it may be as late as October of next year.
Without knowing how much they have available to spend on players, clubs will be understandably reluctant to commit and the same can be said of players as well. Some of those players may try to negotiate a percentage deal where their wage will be adjusted once the cap figures are released.
