Fact of life - the more successful we are the more we get plundered. Hopefully the junior production line continues to flourish.
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What a refreshing attitude. Such a contrast to those other players who just seem to chase dollars, and who exhibit little of the loyalty of the fan base. I’m never impressed with commentary to the effect that players are entitled to earn as much as they can in the small window of a RL career, when those same players earn as much in that ‘short career’ as most fans do in a lifetime - and then they have an extraordinary financial start to the rest of their life. It’s a pity that the NRL doesn’t provide salary cap dispensation for one-club players after, say, 8-10 years.
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There is a long-serving player allowance set at $250,000 per club per year for players who have played for the same club in 8 or more successive seasons.
Isaah Yeo was eligible to receive part or all of this from 2022 onwards.
Thanks, Steve. That’s good to know.
@SteveTidball is that only 1st grade or does it start if they are in SG Ball??
I remember a big who har when Sam McKendry got it, or is that when it was implemented??
First grade Kev.
Sam McKendry got it for the last few seasons at Penrith, I believe at the time he was the only player in the Penrith First Grade squad who qualified.
If I remember correctly there was discussions within the ARLC during the last Player EBA to raise the limit to $300,000.
Personally what I would rather see is when a transfer of a club junior to another club happens, it results in a ‘transfer fee’ which would not require another club to pay but rather as a cap exemption for the club of which the player is being transferred from.
Say a Panthers junior is signed by the Dolphins for $450,000. The NRL would grant the Panthers a 10% transfer fee ($45,000) in the form of a salary cap exemption, of which it can use to retain one of their first grade players. I feel this would get other clubs more involved in developing juniors, and would be good for growing the game (especially if we a looking at expanding to a 20 team comp in the future.)
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That’s innovative thinking, Steve. Is it in the minds of the NRL?
Not a bad idea Steve.
I think there should be an automatic concession for local juniors/developed players when they earn a top 30 contract. Either a flat 10% for anyone who played HM, SG and/or JF at the club (without leaving) or maybe a sliding scale depending on how many of those grades they played. For example: 3% for 1 grade, 6% for 2 grades, 10% for all 3 grades.
Best case scenario, a club that is stacked with players they developed would get an extra 10% to keep those players at the club.
If we add Steve’s idea of transfer fees on top, a club like ours could end up in a very strong position to keep the players they want to.
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But of course if such progressive, fair initiatives like these were ever enacted, the Easts Rorters would have their fingerprints all over the details, and somehow they’d manage to come up smelling of roses as a prime development club - and we’d be somewhere down the list.
I’d take it a step further and allocate a % to the junior club that developed them for the Panthers etc. imagine our junior base if they were financially benefitting from all their hard work, how many local juniors are playing 1sts at other clubs right now, and which local teams do they come from??
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It would be an interesting exercise to go through & see how many players we have developed.
When I was watching the recent Bulldogs v Tigers game I remember thinking that around a third of the players on the field were developed by us!!!
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You could probably field a competitive NRL side comprising ex-Penrith juniors, and it wouldn’t be the first time.
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This made my YEAR…FRIGGEN AWESOME 
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As happy with this one as I was with Yeo.
The form Leota has shown during and ever since last years grand final has him as the best prop in the league in my eyes.
If he didn’t get 3 Dally M points for last week the voting is rigged.
I’m absolutely stoked
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I wonder how Api is feeling about his move after the Tigers start to the season.
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