LEADING rugby league agent, Craig Harrison, has called for Super League to scrap the salary cap in order to promote continued investment into the sport.
The cap, introduced with the summer game, was brought in as a way of stopping clubs spending beyond their means as well as producing a level playing field for all those in the top flight.
That in itself has failed with just four teams having won the Super League Grand Final since 1996 and one of those – the Bradford Bulls – having not been in the top flight for a decade.
For Harrison, scrapping the salary cap would help bring in further investment.
“I think recruiting wise, we have got a bit of buzz back into the game. I went to Wakefield and they are going to compete on a level like Warrington,” Harrison told The Full Eighty Minutes podcast.
“It’s quite scary. We have got Hull KR with investment, Wigan big investment, Warrington will always have investment. Leeds announced an £18 million sponsorship deal, Derek (Beaumont) at Leigh will always invest. Cas have just announced someone who will put some money in.
“It’s happening, what we have dreamt about is happening and the big guns are being drawn. Get rid of the salary cap please, let the big guns get it on and let’s put some excitement back in the sport.
“Let’s smash the cap, it doesn’t mean anything and it is a ridiculous thing. The only thing it’s done is to promote the bottom and keep it level. Go and find these people who want to be interested, they don’t want to come in and not spend the money.
“Matt Ellis at Wakefield is not doing what he is doing to come in and build a ten-year generation. He wants to be in the top four immediately. They want to spend the money and invest.”
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