John WP Fan

I wasn't suggesting the amount be anywhere near that. I'm saying keep the current limit or one a little higher (I think it should be higher so clubs can compete with the NRL for some players), but instead of a hard limit, impose a hefty tax on all wages paid beyond that limit, with the funds collected used to support the less-wealthy clubs. So the rich teams are allowed to spend more, but when they do they must also help the less-rich teams.

There is another option apart from either keeping, lowering or eliminating the cap. Major League Baseball (MLB) in North America uses a luxury tax system. There is a soft salary cap, and teams that spend beyond it must pay a fairly substantial tax on the excess amount. The funds collected through the luxury tax are split between the players benefits fund and teams that did not exceed the soft cap. in 2020 (before the pandemic hit), the luxury tax was set at (maybe sit down for this) $208,000,000 per team.

I'm not understanding this; can you explain a bit? For example, suppose a club has 15 existing contracts that add up to 90% of the new, lower salary cap. How much more are they allowed to spend on the remainder of their squad?

watchnrl is definitely available in Canada. All the games are available, and you can watch them whenever you like (and hide the scores within the app to prevent spoilers). Chromecasting works but occasionally is a bit laggy or at reduced resolution (probably more due to internet bandwidth than the app itself). It's not cheap, but they have done a really good job. My only complaint is that its difficult to scroll through the time line while watching a game or jump a bit forward or back.

RL would not be the only sport considering adjusting the length of its game as a way to handle a compressed schedule: https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/seven-inning-doubleheaders-in-shortened-mlb-season-one-gm-says-hes-not-so-sure-of-idea/

Cowboys vs Broncos was indeed a great game. Thank you! Maybe Dragons/Tigers next. Round 2 starts as soon as I get up tomorrow as well! cheers

I have watchnrl and have already watched the Round 1 games involving my 3 favourite teams: the Bunnies, Storm and Roosters. I have not looked at any other results yet. Which of the other 5 matches would be the most entertaining to watch? I need some sports and a distraction from the real world right now. Thanks for tips that won’t spoil anything!

It looks to me as if it will be streamed on Sportsnet Now Plus, but not Broadcast on Sportsnet World.

I looked at SNnow+ last year. It did not offer any way to record shows and watch them later, which makes it much less useful. I hope the WP game will also make it to Sportsnet World, for which I would pay the extra $20/month. As always, it is very difficult to get any clear info from SN about RL or what their services actually include.

Looks more like a 10 1/2 hour delay to me. I’m hoping for a late announcement of a deal that lets us watch this game live Sunday morning in Toronto. But If I knew that Sportsnet World was my only option, I’d sign up Thursday to get the Wigan/Warrington game that afternoon as well. I really hate having to wait until the last minute to find out. This should have been settled months ago.

Is this game being broadcast somewhere? I had hoped it would be included with watchnrl but I don't see it listed there.

Can we please keep the local politics out of this thread (and forum)? We all know by now that there are fierce political divisions that are not going to get reconciled here. I want rugby league (and all sport) to be an escape from these kids of divisions.

Dunno. May just wait for Cas to post the video online and watch the replay. I heard they do this for their friendlies.

Likewise! i would think they would get at least 10,000 more viewers for away games. my hope is that this really means TSN would produce and broadcast the home games, and then trade those for the right to air the away games with someone who could produce those (Sky?). Not sure how that would fit with Sportsnet’s current Canadian SL rights...

My first exposure to RL was an Eels/Dragons game in Sydney in 2014. I do find it a great league to watch. My favourite teams are the Storm, Roosters and Bunnies, and I mostly only watch games involving one or more of them.