If we ascribe to SBW for a moment perhaps a little more forethought than he might have had, what he’s saying is that he thinks the NRL isn’t ambitious enough, that by lifting the salary cap it’ll become a richer and more powerful league than it already is, and that this increase in stakes will outweigh the tendency of such leagues to be inequitable.

To an extent lifting the salary cap would represent a transfer of power from coaches to managers, as we’ve seen in the EPL and elsewhere – under a cap, coaches who can make the most out of the players they have are rewarded; without a cap it’s managers with the connections, skills and budgets to acquire top players whose teams tend to win. I can certainly see an NRL where wealth and power is concentrated in four top teams under this system.

But can the Australian footy-watching public support such an expensive league? Would this be the ticket for the NRL to crowd the AFL, Super 14 and the A-League out? I just don’t think so.

L