NRL 2023 salary cap special: The polarising salary cap tactic tearing apart Wests Tigers

It’s the controversial recruitment style currently killing the wooden spoon-bound Wests Tigers and handcuffing incoming coach Benji Marshall’s future plans.

Waqa Blake, Nick Cotric, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and David Klemmer are all being paid by previous clubs.

It’s the hidden $3 million salary cap cost that clubs across the NRL are paying to prop up their rivals.

The struggling Wests Tigers and Bulldogs headline a list of NRL clubs paying discarded players to play for an opposition team.

This masthead has uncovered 13 current contracts for players – including David Klemmer, Nathan Brown, Waqa Blake and Jackson Hastings – all of which are being supplemented by payments from their former teams.

The salary cap is a moving beast in the modern game. Clubs are constantly wheeling and dealing as they look to strengthen their roster and remove any perceived deadwood.

It has led to an increasing trend to juggle the salary cap by frequently trading contracted players, either because they are no longer wanted by the coach or in order to gain flexibility in their roster.

In some instances the cap gain is minimal. For example, St George-Illawarra hooker Jacob Liddle was contracted to the Wests Tigers until the end of this season.

However, in order to make way for Api Koroisau’s arrival, the Tigers released Liddle from the final year with the carrot of paying $50,000 of his salary at the Dragons.

Waqa Blake, Nick Cotric, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and David Klemmer are all being paid by previous clubs.

At the other end of the spectrum is former NSW prop Klemmer.

When he was released by Newcastle from the final year of his contract (2023), the Knights agreed to fork-out $400,000 to sweeten the deal for the Wests Tigers.

Clubs can quickly fall out of love with players too.

Joe Ofahengaue was the Tigers player of the year just last year. By May he was at the Eels with the Tigers contributing $150,000 to his contract until the end of 2025.

The Bulldogs made monster payments to the likes of Nick Cotric and DallinWatene-Zelezniak from their 2022 salary cap. They spent $180,000 this year to allow Corey Allan join the Roosters.

It’s not necessarily doom and gloom for clubs that decide to pay-out players to play elsewhere. Penrith are still contributing around $200,000 this year for Eels outside back Waqa Blake despite having not played with the Panthers since 2019.

The decision made by former Penrith GM of football Phil Gould also included the release of Reagan Campbell-Gillard to Parramatta in 2019. Up until last season, the Panthers were supplementing a major portion of his contract, prior to his most recent upgrade this year.

The polarising recruitment style is born from a number of reasons. The Tigers are among the clubs to have used it in recent seasons and it will be interesting to see where incoming coach Benji Marshall stands on the policy.

Marshall has already made an impression while working as an understudy to Tim Sheens. He was a driving force behind their signing of Aidan Sezer and played a role in the pursuit of the Fainu boys – Latu and Samuela – as well as Jayden Sullivan.

If Marshall decides the roster needs more massaging, it could be that the club look to move players on. Already, they are contributing money to a handful of players at other clubs.

Ofahengaue, Jackson Hastings, Ken Maumalo an Oliver Gildart were all moved on this season with a contribution from the Tigers.

There could be more change on the way, although Marshall insisted on Friday that he was content with how the roster was taking shape next season.

“I am pretty happy with where it is at,” he said.

“We are making strides in the direction we want to go with the roster. But again, all those things are all internal. And once we do figure out the people we are going to sign, you people will be the first to know.”

Originally published as NRL 2023 salary cap special: The polarising salary cap tactic tearing apart Wests Tigers