NRL Rich 100: Bulldogs, Storm and Sharks extract premium performance at moderate price

Ahead of the release of our full NRL Rich 100 numbers on Sunday morning we reveal which clubs have proven the masters of extracting premium performance at a bottom-dollar budget.

The Sharks, Bulldogs and Storm are the bargain hunters of the NRL Rich 100.

The finals bound trio remain in contention for the NRL premiership despite boasting the least number of players to feature in the 2024 Rich 100.

With a total of five players named in the Rich 100, the Titans are the only other side that go close to Cronulla (three), Canterbury (five) and Melbourne (five), yet they have finished in the bottom four for a fourth consecutive season.

Craig Fitzgibbon’s achievement to take the Sharks to the finals series in each of his first three years of head coaching has been underlined by the revelation that the club has just three players who are ranked among the game’s top money earners.

It is the least number of Rich 100 players from any club.

By comparison the club with the most players in the Rich 100 is the Rabbitohs with 10.

Nicho Hynes, Briton Nikora and Jesse Ramien are the three Sharks that feature in the Rich 100.

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Key to the Sharks spread of money in their salary cap is that their spine spend is relatively modest compared to their rival big guns.

Outside of Hynes, quality hooker Blayke Brailey just missed the Rich 100 cut, earning slightly under $600,000, while half Braydon Trindall and fullback Will Kennedy were two of the lowest paid players in their respective positions.

The majority of the Sharks cap spend is spread evenly among the likes of Cameron McInnes, Ronaldo Mulitalo, Siosifa Talakai, Teig Wilton, Toby Rudolf, Oregon Kaufusi and Braden Hamlin-Uele.

Cronulla also lost $625,000 earner Dale Finucane to an injury-enforced retirement earlier this season.

The arrival of million-dollar Warriors enforcer Addin Fonua-Blake to the Sharks next season will increase Cronulla’s presence in the 2025 Rich 100.

The feel-good story of the year are the Bulldogs after securing their first finals appearance in eight years.

The stellar performance of Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo is equal to that of Fitzgibbon, given Canterbury’s lack of Rich 100 players.

Captain Stephen Crichton ($850,000) is the highest Bulldog to feature in the Rich 100 coming in at 31.

At number 40 is Viliame Kikau ($800,000), 48th is Matt Burton ($750,000), 86th is Reed Mahoney ($625,000) and scraping in at 103 is Ryan Sutton ($600,000).

The anomaly on the list is Sutton, who rates among the game’s worst buys.

The English forward hasn’t played NRL in 12 months due to injury and form. He remains contracted at the Dogs until the end of 2025.

Similar to Cronulla, instead of spending huge in their spine, Bulldogs GM of football Phil Gould has spread the club’s salary cap across a number of players that sit inside the salary bracket of $350,000 and $550,000 including Connor Tracey, Josh Addo-Carr, Bronson Xerri, Max King, Jaemon Salmon and Josh Curran.

Melbourne’s management of their salary cap is just as impressive due to their small involvement in the Rich 100 with just five players.

Yet the major contrast to the Sharks and Dogs is Melbourne’s amount of money spent in their spine.

Four of the five highest-paid players at the club are their playmakers including five-eighth Cameron Munster, fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen, hooker Harry Grant and halfback Jahrome Hughes.

The other massive money earner is towering prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona with the remainder of the salary cap spent on the hardworking middle-tier players that Craig Bellamy has become famous for extracting the most out of.