Aussie teenager wanted $ 1million a season

[The Future is League]

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/suaalii-s-1-million-a-season-demand-was-the-last-straw-for-rabbitohs-20210220-p5749k.html

[The Rocket]

9 minutes ago, The Future is League said:

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/suaalii-s-1-million-a-season-demand-was-the-last-straw-for-rabbitohs-20210220-p5749k.html

I really don`t expect this bloke to be around too long.

[Smudger06]

No player is bigger than the Club.....look at the way sir Alex Ferguson dealt with a young Pogba. 

[Damien]

I think Souths were right in not meeting his demands.  They are outrageous for a teenager that hasn't played a first grade game yet.

[Futtocks]

If he proves himself, pay the going rate.

He hasn't proved himself yet.

[Dunbar]

Clubs have always been prepared to invest in the best young talent to secure them.

When Sean Edwards signed for Wigan as a 16 year old he got £35k as a sign on fee (he would have got appearance fees and win money on top of that as he played during the year).

That £35k is now worth about £121k according to the bank of England inflation calculator and therefore around $215k AUD.

Suaalii was looking for $480k for the first full year of his contract with Souths so hardly breaking the bank.

[The Rocket]

The only thing I can see that will keep Suaalii in the game is the timing.

He will be 19 in 2023 when the next ruwc is held, 23 when the one after that is held, assumming he leaves himself 2 years to join the other code and then establish himself in a national team, that would suggest to me, most likely scenario, he might aim to leave at 25, and then have 2 years to prepare himself for the 2027 ruwc.

If he wanted to play in the 2023 tournament he would probably have to leave at 21, I don`t think he will have achieved everything there is for him to achieve in League by then.

So I`m thinking most likely scenario is that we have him for 8 years.

Of course he could be a dud and they can have him. There`s a lot of very good young centres and old-hands that might show him up and he mightn`t be as good as the hype.

[bobbruce]

1 hour ago, Smudger06 said:

No player is bigger than the Club.....look at the way sir Alex Ferguson dealt with a young Pogba. 

Yeah it cost them £96m to buy him back. 

[ghost crayfish]

All the hype suggests he's pretty good, but I'm already sick of hearing about him. All his carry on to date is pathetic for a 17 yr old - embarrassing - and has put a big target on his back. It also suggests we've got another code hopping "superstar" on the way, so it's only a matter of time before he burns a club with more absurd demands. 

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

Before everyone starts slating the kid too much, it will have been his agent asking for that contract and they are employed to get the best deal they can for their players. The article just sounds like sour grapes from Souths that they’ve lost a promising young player to their biggest rivals in the Roosters.

[GUBRATS]

7 hours ago, bobbruce said:

Yeah it cost them £96m to buy him back. 

Biggest waste of money we've ever spent 

[Cumbrian Mackem]

Signing kids to huge deals if ridiculous. Even more so when they haven’t even played any 1st team rugby.

Everybody should checkout the story of karlos filiga.

[gingerjon]

2 hours ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

Before everyone starts slating the kid too much, it will have been his agent asking for that contract and they are employed to get the best deal they can for their players. The article just sounds like sour grapes from Souths that they’ve lost a promising young player to their biggest rivals in the Roosters.

Yup.

And before anyone starts thinking that the NRL is a big league on a global scale - the kid is asking for around the average monthly salary in the Premier League.

[The storm]

11 hours ago, The Rocket said:

I really don`t expect this bloke to be around too long.

The expectation is huge. 

And there are plenty of good young players in Australia 

It will be a significant achievement if reality can match expectation 

[Rupert Prince]

10 hours ago, bobbruce said:

Yeah it cost them £96m to buy him back. 

And he is still not worth it.  Not saying he is not a good player.  I think he is.  But he was not worth that money.  

Agents. Agents. Agents.

[Rupert Prince]

4 hours ago, ghost crayfish said:

All the hype suggests he's pretty good, but I'm already sick of hearing about him. All his carry on to date is pathetic for a 17 yr old - embarrassing - and has put a big target on his back. It also suggests we've got another code hopping "superstar" on the way, so it's only a matter of time before he burns a club with more absurd demands. 

Indeed.  The best young player coming through right now is Harry Smith.  He must be worth 2 million. Stirling  ...if based on this bloke.  Hopefully the game has enough money to keep him and others like him.

I hope he starts for Wigan, irrespective of how well Wigan go this season.  And I'd like to hope other clubs let youth, if they are good enough, have a chance.

[Allora]

43 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Yup.

And before anyone starts thinking that the NRL is a big league on a global scale - the kid is asking for around the average monthly salary in the Premier League.

And what is your point you sad old ######.

Go watch Football then and stop whining here.

[DavidM]

I do think that package was a massive ask for a kid who however big the raps hadn’t played a game , but his team can ask and the Bunnies can knock it back . Prove your worth then you’re in a position to renegotiate a bigger deal like many players .There is a big spotlight on him now so more than anything I’m just interested to see how he travels when he finally gets the chance in the big time . Hopefully well 

[Dunbar]

15 minutes ago, Rupert Prince said:

Indeed.  The best young player coming through right now is Harry Smith.  He must be worth 2 million. Stirling  ...if based on this bloke.  Hopefully the game has enough money to keep him and others like him.

I hope he starts for Wigan, irrespective of how well Wigan go this season.  And I'd like to hope other clubs let youth, if they are good enough, have a chance.

Harry Smith is the finest half back talent I have seen in the UK for a long time (with the caveat that Lewis Dodd may be even better).

But David Fifita, Stephen Crichton and Bradman Best are all younger than Harry Smith and are either firmly established and guaranteed NRL starters or even SOO reps already... while Smith is still waiting for a regular start for Wigan.

And this is not a dig at you RP, I know we share the same hope that Smith gets the Wigan 7 jersey and keeps it for a long time... just a pity that a 35 year old has got the Wigan 7 jersey again this year.

[gingerjon]

1 hour ago, Allora said:

And what is your point you sad old ######.

Go watch Football then and stop whining here.

My point, for the hard of thinking, is that every so often some ignorant folk like to claim the NRL is massive on a global scale.

It’s not. As arguments about this amount of money prove.

That doesn’t stop it being a great league to watch or better resourced than any other RL competition but it should put its place in perspective.

Hope that helps.

[Tommygilf]

1 hour ago, Allora said:

And what is your point you sad old ######.

Go watch Football then and stop whining here.

It adds some perspective for those in Australia and indeed over here in the UK for how "big" the NRL really is.

[Dunbar]

Let's put some structure and comparatives around the deal that Suaalii was looking for at Souths.

It was $480k in year 1 growing to $1 a season in year 5.  So if we assume it steps at a sensible level it would be $610k in year 2 and then $740k and $870k in years 3 and 4.

Clearly a lot of money but the Australian system is able to identify and nurture talent very well these days.

A comparison.  David Fifita was regarded the best school age talent over the last two or three years and now as a 20 year old he is on $1.25M a year at Gold Coast.  If Suaalii fulfilled his potential and was on $870k as a 21 year old it would an absolute bargain.

[The Rocket]

11 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

It adds some perspective for those in Australia and indeed over here in the UK for how "big" the NRL really is.

No, I can see the blokes point, seriously no one is deluded enough over here to really believe NRL is in the big league in world sport. Our nightly news and sports shows are bombarded nightly with EPL, NBA etc and all the incredible money these blokes earn.

O.k. yes you can make the comparison but a more constructive comparison is with other players.

 

 

[Cumbrian Mackem]

10 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

No, I can see the blokes point, seriously no one is deluded enough over here to really believe NRL is in the big league in world sport. Our nightly news and sports shows are bombarded nightly with EPL, NBA etc and all the incredible money these blokes earn.

O.k. yes you can make the comparison but a more constructive comparison is with other players.

 

 

This. What’s the average salary of a veteran NRL player compared to a kid who has zero minutes playing time in the NRL.

[The Rocket]

9 minutes ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

This. What’s the average salary of a veteran NRL player compared to a kid who has zero minutes playing time in the NRL.

The average male annual salary in this country is about $70 000, an average NRL veteran can earn quadruple that.

Whereas once players walked away from the game with not much to show for it but great memories and lifelong friends, I think a lot of blokes these days are much better paid and better advised, not all agents are crooks, a lot seem to go into just average jobs but have earnt themselves a nice little nest egg. No point deluding ourselves, some don`t make it and some careers are cut short that`s tough, but there is plenty of small businesses that don`t make it and plenty of career changes when a person is starting out as well.