Canterbury will be trapped in salary cap hell until at least 2021
CANTERBURY will not be able to sign a marquee player until at least 2021 as the Bulldogs laid bare their shocking salary cap situation.
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CANTERBURY’S salary cap mess won’t be resolved until 2021 but the Bulldogs have warned off rival clubs after boldly declaring they do not need to shed any stars.
The full extent of Canterbury’s salary cap woes can be revealed for the first time after the club chief executive Andrew Hill and chair Lynne Anderson addressed supporters at a members function on Thursday night.
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In a show of transparency, the duo divulged a host of home truths regarding the club’s plight including:
* They are salary cap compliant for this year and next and will not need to shed players heading into 2019 but have not ruled out doing so;
* The Bulldogs overreached on a predicted salary cap for this year and beyond;
* Departed players James Graham, Sam Kasiano, Brad Abbey, Brenko Lee and Moses Suli have received some form of payment from the Bulldogs included in this year’s cap;
* Seven to 10 players have significant back-ended contracts for 2019. Half a dozen players have ratchet clauses — which are now banned in any new contracts;
* The club has about $500,000 to spend on uncontracted players with 25 of 30 spots already filled for next season;
* A new recruitment committee has been established which includes Hill and premiership-winning coach Chris Anderson;
* Any back-ended deals where a player’s salary raises more than $100,000 per season must now be signed off by the board; and
* Coach Dean Pay is not directly involved with the negotiation of player contracts.
Despite the likes of Josh and Brett Morris and Greg Eastwood leaving the club at the end of this year the club is still in a precarious salary cap spot. They have added Newcastle’s Jack Cogger and Roosters back-rower Chris Smith but still have five spots to fill.
The aim is for the Bulldogs to return to being a development club.
While the likes of contracted duo Moses Mbye and Aidan Tolman continue to be linked to moves elsewhere, Hill said the club did not have to move anyone on and were not “actively shopping players around”.
This does not mean the club won’t shed players as they look to bolster their overall depth.
“We have limitations,” Hill said. “We will get through the next 18 months. The club has got some wonderfully experienced people in significant roles. The culmination of that experience and the fact this is a strong club with great foundations, we are being open and transparent with our members.
“We have to get through this little hurdle. Once we get past it, the future is incredibly bright.
“You look at the squad for 2019 and there is comfort that the nucleus of the 2018 squad is retained.
“This is a long play. You don’t change the course of a ship overnight. To implement us being a development club it will take multiple years. We have to get on with it.”
The club has also formulated a salary cap percentage for each position on their roster going forward. However, Hill, who fronted the playing group on Thursday, said there was no freedom to move in the club’s salary cap until 2021.
The chief executive will join Chris Anderson, Pay, head of football Andrew Farrar, recruitment officer Warren Macdonald and chief financial officer Vince Costa in a newly established recruitment committee which will meet regularly.
Newly installed chair Lynn Anderson said the club was on the right path.
“The reason we are here is because looking from the sidelines we thought something wasn’t right,” Anderson said. “I feel calm in a lot of ways and confident. We’ve been here before ... We know hard times. We know this club roles its sleeves up. We will get through it.”
Meanwhile, Pay has had his $25,000 fine for comments he made about referees reduced to $15,000 with $10,000 suspended.
“I appreciate the league turning our submission around quickly,” Hill said. “Dean has come out and acknowledge he could’ve chosen his words differently. What I would say when you compare our situation to past situations I thought the initial fine was a little disproportionably large.”