Watmough case sets dangerous precedence

[Newtown]

Watmough is 32, at the retiring age, shouldn't be paid anything tbh

If a club signs a player at such a late age there is every risk that he will break down sooner rather than later due to wear and tear which have occurred over the years to the player's knees, ankles etc. Parramatta would have accepted this risk when they signed the player and they, not any other NRL club must be prepared to wear the consequences. If Parramatta receive a dispensation for Watmough then each of the other NRL clubs are clearly being unfairly disadvantaged. If these clubs banded together to take class action against the NRL there is every likelihood that the clubs would win.

 

[jctiger]

I will put on my tin foil hat for a second.Not only will Parra be found compliant(which is disgraceful) but they will win the comp on the back of many dubious refereeing decisions for the rest of the year.The media get their fairytale ending just like when souths won in 2014.
Yes i am a very cynical old bastard

Yes, your a Cynical old bastard….........but probably right !

 

[Fade_To_Black]

I will put on my tin foil hat for a second.Not only will Parra be found compliant(which is disgraceful) but they will win the comp on the back of many dubious refereeing decisions for the rest of the year.The media get their fairytale ending just like when souths won in 2014.
Yes i am a very cynical old bastard

Yes, your a Cynical old bastard….........but probably right !

Not only the Rabbits in 2014\. The Roosters in 2013 were helped along pretty nicely to claim that premiership and don't forget the Dragons in 2010- perhaps the biggest staged premiership win in history, hell it didn't even matter that Brett Morris was nearly a metre over the sideline when he passed the ball infield to lead to their 1st try in the GF. what a set up that whole campaign was. I'm surprised the Dragons weren't offered a 16 point start by the NRL on GF day just to really make a certainty of it.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Watmough is 32, at the retiring age, shouldn't be paid anything tbh

Wouldn't matter if he was 82\. A contract is a contract.

 

[Fade_To_Black]

I've never liked Watmong as a player , but I hope he hasn't been forced out of the game by the Parra officialdom

If he wanted one last chance to try and make a comeback he deserves it , he was a very good player for his clubs ,state and country

And yet you have never liked him! The haircut? Socks down? What got him in Happy's bad books?

For my part I think teams that had him in them were better for it. A very whole hearted player who you could rely on to give 100% every time he took the field.

Because he absolutely terrorized WT's side and he was from Manly

Don't like Gasnier for the same reason ,terrorized Tigers teams and was from the Dragons

Still able to respect them though

Yet you still turn into a sobbing, blubbering mess when people have the audacity to state that they don't like players from the Storm. Love your work!
A cynic might suggest you don't like Watmough and Gasnier because they are not from your magical land of Qld?

 

[Fade_To_Black]

Watmough is 32, at the retiring age, shouldn't be paid anything tbh

Wouldn't matter if he was 82\. A contract is a contract.

It would be a big gamble to sign an 82 year old to a 4 year contract though. At least you wouldn't have to supply the bloke with a mouth guard, just a glass of milk for the codger to drop his falsies into before he heads down the tunnel.

Why should Parra be compensated for taking the risk to sign a veteran when career ending injuries can strike any player at any age? Its a crap rule IMO, there is risk in signing anyone.
Look what happened to Jarrod McCracken in 2000\. WT would have been out of pocket for an absolute fortune paying a player massive money for 4 years when he only played a little over a dozen games for us and was forced to retire as a result of an illegal tackle.
Would be interesting to find out just what happened financially between Jarrod, the WT and the NRL in that instance.

 

[Newtown]

Rival NRL clubs want full details of how Parramatta Eels get under salary cap
Date May 5, 2016 - 8:02PM
Brad Walter Sports Reporter

Rival clubs are demanding the NRL provide full details of the measures taken by Parramatta to get under the salary cap for the remainder of this season, including the way any dispensation granted for Anthony Watmough's premature retirement is calculated.

"The NRL needs to be really clear about how Parramatta is able to get under the salary cap," one club boss told Fairfax Media. "There needs to be some transparency about whether they get rid of two $300,000 players or one $600,000 player or however they do it."

While there is little doubt Watmough has a chronic knee injury, there is a belief that the timing of his decision to retire just days after Parramatta were stripped of all 12 competition points accumulated this season and fined $1 million is too convenient.

 

[balmain boy]

Interesting, i've been reading the Parra forum on LU tonight, and their supporters are very confident, almost cocky thinking the NRL will give them their points back if Watmough retires, as they will claim it was an injury from pre-February and that it wouldn't count towards this yrs cap.

Huh? Watmough is potentially one part of a solution for them to get back under the cap for this season. They'd still ahve to shed more players too.

The points were deducted for systematic cheating.

2 completely different matters.

Surely even your average bogan from Parra could understand that.

 

[Sco77y]

Interesting, i've been reading the Parra forum on LU tonight, and their supporters are very confident, almost cocky thinking the NRL will give them their points back if Watmough retires, as they will claim it was an injury from pre-February and that it wouldn't count towards this yrs cap.

Huh? Watmough is potentially one part of a solution for them to get back under the cap for this season. They'd still ahve to shed more players too.

The points were deducted for systematic cheating.

2 completely different matters.

Surely even your average bogan from Parra could understand that.

Haha, yeah damage is already done - nice try Parra. Can't reverse time by simply having one guy retire, no chance.

 

[Fade_To_Black]

^Make no mistake- it will happen.
The apologetic way the NRL have handled this thing suggests they were loath to penalise Parra-especially considering the good start they have had to 2016(never mind the insignificant fact that they assembled their squad illegally)!.
The NRL'S decision to hand down their punishment this week which allows Parra 2weeks to get their finances in order instead of 1 was carefully orchestrated to create as little damage to Parra's finals chances and as little damage to the NRL itself. The whole things stinks big time .If the NRL is a corrupt organization they cannot be surprised that it's clubs are corrupt and dodgy too.
The ol' "fish rots from the head" quote fits this whole sorry mess quite aptly.

 

[hobbo]

^Make no mistake- it will happen.
The apologetic way the NRL have handled this thing suggests they were loath to penalise Parra-especially considering the good start they have had to 2016(never mind the insignificant fact that they assembled their squad illegally)!.
The NRL'S decision to hand down their punishment this week which allows Parra 2weeks to get their finances in order instead of 1 was carefully orchestrated to create as little damage to Parra's finals chances and as little damage to the NRL itself. The whole things stinks big time .If the NRL is a corrupt organization they cannot be surprised that it's clubs are corrupt and dodgy too.
The ol' "fish rots from the head" quote fits this whole sorry mess quite aptly.

Parra were supposed to be the darlings of the NRL this year as were Souths in 2014 .
lol@Parra !

The piss weak punishment from Greenburg and his latte sipping cronies is a joke IMO .
Assemble an illegal roster , get caught , and still get the chance to play in the semis …
What a farce !

 

[Bones]

Didn't we get stuck a few years back when Fulton was forced to retire due to concussion? I remember reading that the club still had to pay him and it was still counting to the cap.

Why should Parramatta be any different? Just because they cheated we need to make different rules to help them out?

 

[supercoach]

^Make no mistake- it will happen.
The apologetic way the NRL have handled this thing suggests they were loath to penalise Parra-especially considering the good start they have had to 2016(never mind the insignificant fact that they assembled their squad illegally)!.
The NRL'S decision to hand down their punishment this week which allows Parra 2weeks to get their finances in order instead of 1 was carefully orchestrated to create as little damage to Parra's finals chances and as little damage to the NRL itself. The whole things stinks big time .If the NRL is a corrupt organization they cannot be surprised that it's clubs are corrupt and dodgy too.
The ol' "fish rots from the head" quote fits this whole sorry mess quite aptly.

The NRL love the ratings that eels generate, so they will fast track their ability to score points. Its why Greenberg did not do a Storm on them and have them play for no points. He now gives them a remote sniff at final football and has created an us vrs them thing that should generate a load of interest. So I get the feeling it will all be fast tracked with Chocks retirement and may be a minor sacrificial lamb or two. The NRL is seldom transparent so do not expect it this time

 

[Sco77y]

You're probably right FTB, now it looks like the 5 Eels members not stepping down is an independant issue from Parra's ability to earn points again.. So all they need to do is get under the cap by next game (and yep, the 2 weeks break is convienient..) and then everything is back to normal :/ Luckily other NRL clubs are noticing how ridiculous this is and will hopefully do something about it.

 

[Nelson]

I don't mind them letting the Eels accumulate points so long as they turn around and disqualify them if they make the finals. Give them hope and then pull the rug out from under them. That would send a strong message to cheats - we're finished punishing you when we say so, and you're not gonna know when the punishment ends.

 

[batboy]

I would really like to know if WT were afforded the same luxury when Tuiaki, Dwyer and Fulton were forced to retire through injury? I'm betting we werent and had to pay those 3 out of our salary cap expenditure for the remaining years of their contract.
Different rules for different clubs. It always is.

As far as I know when Fulton was forced to retire his contract money was still counted in our cap. Could be wrong, but I am sure I read this somewhere

Pretty sure Fulton was counted on the cap because he took the field in that year.
I also believe we were given dispensation for Tuiaki for the Year (2010?) he didn't play.

 

[Newtown]

Interesting that Brad Arthur is adamant that Semi won't be cleared to go to another club but he wants Watmough to leave immediately. Very selfish indeed.

 

[Fade_To_Black]

I don't mind them letting the Eels accumulate points so long as they turn around and disqualify them if they make the finals. Give them hope and then pull the rug out from under them. That would send a strong message to cheats - we're finished punishing you when we say so, and you're not gonna know when the punishment ends.

That sounds like a great idea! I'd applaud that.

 

[Cosimo_Zaretti]

The 6 month investigation, all the press on Tuesday, deregistering 5 staff members (now on appeal in Supreme court) and the solution was simply for one player to retire.

Please….

More to the point, the solution was for one player who hasn't pulled on a boot all season to retire when his career was over anyway. Parramatta's run on side is unchanged and the NRL can save face.

 

[Tigermama]

I will put on my tin foil hat for a second.Not only will Parra be found compliant(which is disgraceful) but they will win the comp on the back of many dubious refereeing decisions for the rest of the year.The media get their fairytale ending just like when souths won in 2014.
Yes i am a very cynical old bastard

:laughing: I hope you're wrong Jad.