Sonny Bill Williams deal leads to queries over salary cap

Peter V’landys says he would be open to making all NRL player salaries transparent but would only do so if the players agree to it.

Sonny Bill Williams with Roosters chairman Nick Politis at a Super League match in February.

Peter V’landys says he would be open to making NRL player salaries transparent but would only do so if the players agree to it.

There are renewed calls for the NRL to come clean on all player salaries as debate fires up about Sonny Bill Williams’ highly anticipated return for the Sydney Roosters at a bargain price.

Rival clubs privately question how the star-studded Roosters are able to swing another salary cap super deal so that a player of Williams’ calibre can return on a hit-and-run mission on a reported $200,000 for the remainder of the season.

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“Transparency is your friend, it is not your enemy,” V’landys said.

“However, we would never do it without the approval of the players because it is their personal details.

“You have to remember, it is aggregated to get the salary cap, it is not just one player.

“You are basically taking people’s personal information to get to that aggregation.

“Even though we are trying to keep clubs to account, at the end of the day it is the player’s salary that is out there. I respect that.”

If it comes off it would potentially represent one of the best bang-for-his-buck deals highly respected Roosters chairman Nick Politis has ever secured.

Politis has been the game’s greatest negotiator for decades and he continues to be with a stack of his players on way less money than their market value.

And while rival clubs whinge about the deals Politis gets done, the reality is the Roosters still have to go through all the same salary cap hoops as other clubs to get the NRL to sign off.

In fairness, this one will most likely only include four regular-season games along with however many weeks the Roosters go in the finals as they chase a third straight premiership.

Some have even questioned if there will be more risk than reward given Williams turns 35 early next month and hasn’t played in the NRL for five-and-a-half seasons.

Under NRL guidelines, there has been an extension put on the registering contracts until August 3. It used to be June 30. So the Roosters will be breaking no rules if the deal is signed off on.

But does it meet the pub test for the champs to get a player of Williams’ quality come on to their roster for such a cheap price?

The reality is no club has a better recruitment and retention policy than the Roosters and it is a fact that top players will forgo significant money just to be a part of the Roosters’ system.

The Daily Telegraph