Leeds Rhinos aiming for salary cap dispensation ahead of Super League meeting on Salford Red Devils crisis

LEEDS RHINOS are aiming for salary cap dispensation at a meeting of Super League clubs on Wednesday to discuss the Salford Red Devils crisis.

That’s according to the Yorkshire Evening Post, with Leeds chief executive Gary Hetherington confirming to the publication that, if a takeover of Salford cannot be completed in time, the idea of salary cap dispensation will be raised by the Rhinos.

The Red Devils need to find £800,000 from somewhere, with the RFL instructing a firesale last week after Salford were given an advance of £500,000 for their central distribution funds.

However, only four clubs at present – Leigh Leopards, Castleford Tigers, Wakefield Trinity and Hull FC – can bring in Salford players with their current salary spend not yet up to the cap.

Now Hetherington is proposing to allow all 11 remaining Super League clubs to be able to bid for players to help the Red Devils out.

Hetherington told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “The RFL, who effectively have taken charge of Salford, put a resolution to Super League clubs last week that would effectively have given everybody dispensation [to sign Salford players]. If you’re a club that has not spent your salary cap allowance, then you don’t need dispensation, but it would have given clubs that have already spent up – like Leeds, Warrington, Wigan and St Helens presumably – dispensation to sign a player from Salford.

“In doing so, it increases Salford’s chances of survival because it means they can offload some players, get transfer fees and offload the wages. That proposal was defeated, voted down.

“The clubs are coming together again this week and will be further considering the Salford situation. We have made an amendment to that proposal to say clubs with spare salary cap capacity should have first option to sign Salford players.

“There should be a window of maybe several weeks for that to happen and subsequently if Salford still need to sign players beyond that period, then there should be a dispensation – for 2025 only – to all clubs to sign one player from Salford. That in many ways flies in the face of what we’ve been advocating, which is we’ve got to exert more cost control, not increase spending, but the priority here is to keep Salford solvent.”

It remains to be seen what conclusion the Super League clubs will reach in two days’ time.