Hudson Young’s move to the PNG Chiefs could be back on the table after the NRL opened the door for players to challenge the market value head office places on them. NRL boss Peter V’landys said “exceptional circumstances” would be taken into account, but warned the game would not allow the salary cap to be “rorted”.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Sunday that the NRL will accept submissions on behalf of any player who wants to contest their market value, a development that could revive the Chiefs’ pursuit of the Canberra and NSW back-rower. Fox Sports has also reported the change.
The NRL initially placed a notional value of $1.1 million a season on Young, in line with the offer the Raiders tabled to keep him, according to the Herald. That meant the Chiefs would have had to count him in their salary cap at $1.1 million, even if he accepted their offer of $900,000 a year.
The salary cap auditor later revalued Young at $1 million. However, the Herald reported the Chiefs remain unwilling to pay $100,000 more than their offer for a player coming off a serious Achilles injury.
The Chiefs pulled their offer when the NRL signalled they would have to pay “market value” for all of their recruits, while Canberra extended its offer to Young from three years to four in a bid to take him off the market.
‘We just don’t want the salary cap rorted’
V’landys said the rule applies to every club, but confirmed the NRL and the Rugby League Players’ Association (RLPA) agree there is room for individual cases.
“The salary cap applies to everybody and requires the market value of a player,” V’landys told the Herald. “In saying that, we’ve discussed it with the RLPA – and we both agree – there can be exceptional circumstances. We will always look at exceptional circumstances.”
Read more: Young increasingly frustrated with Raiders as his future hangs in balance
He said players had always been able to make their case. “They can make submissions to the salary cap auditor, and we always look at the circumstances,” V’landys said.
“Let’s say a player wanted to be with his family or there are other specific reasons. We just don’t want the salary cap rorted. However, we know that at times there are exceptional circumstances, so we take those exceptional circumstances into account.
“We won’t have a situation where people manipulate the salary cap. The unfortunate thing is with the tax-free status of PNG, we have to be extra cautious with the market value of the players there.”
Why PNG’s tax-free deals matter
The Chiefs, who join the competition in 2028, can offer tax-free contracts. The Herald reported their $900,000 offer would have given Young a big increase in take-home pay compared with the taxable wages on offer at Canberra.
Existing clubs had raised concerns that the newcomers could stretch that advantage further by signing players for “unders”, according to the Herald.
Read more: PNG Chiefs Name: V’landys Hits Back at NZ Rugby Court Action
RLPA backs players’ right to choose
RLPA chief executive Clint Newton raised his own experience with V’landys. Newton wanted to rejoin Newcastle from Penrith in 2014 despite the Knights offering much less than the Panthers, and the NRL initially frowned on the move before he contested its stance, the Herald reported.
“I certainly believe that if PNG want to pay him $900,000, that shouldn’t be stopped,” Newton told the Herald. “I understand if something doesn’t smell right from an integrity perspective, but that’s not the case here.
“I said to Peter, ‘I don’t want us to go down the legal path here, but my greatest concern is clubs are trying to put the genie back in the bottle’. Everyone has been very aware of the tax-free money and no one batted an eyelid.”
Newton said it was now up to Young’s manager, Sam Ayoub, whether to make a submission to V’landys, and that he had offered to join Young and Ayoub in a meeting with the NRL boss.
What’s next for Hudson Young
V’landys said Young would be given “due process and natural justice”.
“The last person we want to affect is Hudson, I personally have a lot of time for him. But we have to keep the salary cap objective,” he said.
According to the Herald, any further representations made on Young’s behalf may result in a further reduction of his market value.
More News
