A Quick Question About the Salary Cap

There's lots of talk on the Quins board about us not being able to afford both Nick Evans and James Johnston as we're dangerously close to the salary cap.

Now if this is the case then how can other teams packed full of Int players operate?

Leicester have the likes of Cole, Castro, Croft, Waldrom, Crane, Youngs and Flood in their squad amongst others.

Saracens have Borthwick, Stevens, Brits, Hodgson, Strettle, Ashton, Tomkins and Goode.

Bath have Attwood, Louw, Classens, Donald, Banahan and Eastmond.

How does this work?

The problem you have is that new contracts are due to players like Care, Marler, Brown, Robshaw Lowe, JTH who have all gained England recognition and will expect bigger contracts. The extra money there would take you over the cap.

Also, and not being flippant, salary expectations in London are higher as cost of living, especially housing is higher.

I can only speak for Tigers, but we tend to pay players less than you would expect. Waldrom for instance was a very cheap signing, while Cole re-signed for about half the amount Sarries were rumoured to have offered him. We cannot afford to bring in "superstars". Castro came in cheap (though is the biggest earner now) as did Waldrom, Crane and Flood. We have a big squad and we do tend to spend right up to the limit. Due to this we have had to release players so we can afford to keep others - for instance letting Hipkiss and Moody leave meant we could offer more money to Croft and Youngs.

Should clubs based in areas where the cost of living is higher be allowed I higher salary cap?

Big difference in the price of accommodation between Worcester and Richmond.

Ha, have a london waiting salary increase for the salary cap - interesting!

maestegmafia wrote:Should clubs based in areas where the cost of living is higher be allowed I higher salary cap?

That then opens the whole thing up for even more abuse. And probably Sarries and Bath would be the only sides to gain by increasing the cap - as any other team who may be allowed more - would struggle to finance spending more.

I hate salary caps as they are an artifical measure that can limit growth. however as only 4 sides in the premiership made a profit last year - without them we would be in a real mess.

Fact is, while we love rugby on this board, that feeling is not prevalent across the whole UK. Even as rugby lovers I get the impression from reading posts that many do not go to matches regularly and watch mainly on TV. The TV revenues for the AP are pretty damn good, and set to get better. Even so we need more people through the gates to support any extra spending on salary.

maestegmafia wrote:Should clubs based in areas where the cost of living is higher be allowed I higher salary cap?

Big difference in the price of accommodation between Worcester and Richmond.

Okay, so out of all the 'London' clubs, only 'Quins would be eligable, since Irish, Wasps (and arguably Sarries) don't play home games in greater London.

yappysnap wrote:There's lots of talk on the Quins board about us not being able to afford both Nick Evans and James Johnston as we're dangerously close to the salary cap.

Now if this is the case then how can other teams packed full of Int players operate?

Leicester have the likes of Cole, Castro, Croft, Waldrom, Crane, Youngs and Flood in their squad amongst others.

Saracens have Borthwick, Stevens, Brits, Hodgson, Strettle, Ashton, Tomkins and Goode.

Bath have Attwood, Louw, Classens, Donald, Banahan and Eastmond.

How does this work?

Eastmond??? Really think he's on a big contract?

All of the others are at the 150k ish mark and Donald is the marquee. We've lost Moody (200k) Carraro, Barkley from the cap this year as well, so there's always out to balance the ins

Jimpy wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Should clubs based in areas where the cost of living is higher be allowed I higher salary cap?

Big difference in the price of accommodation between Worcester and Richmond.

Okay, so out of all the 'London' clubs, only 'Quins would be eligable, since Irish, Wasps (and arguably Sarries) don't play home games in greater London.

This theory has serious flaws though. London waiting is fine, but Bath is one of the most expensive places to live outside of the capital. Conversely, you can live in Reading and commute for London Irish, so there's too much of a grey area.

The london waiting system works for the teachers and other Key workers though! Why couldnt it be applied to the salary cap?

I'm not a teacher but I live with one - my understanding is that there are bands - central london and greater london, with the larger salary increases for central london.

Bathite - I hear what you are saying, but Bath is a little bubble of high cost of living surrounded largely by average costing areas.
But, SW london is pretty much 15-20% higher than national average. (I'm looking at housing prices here).

propdavid_london wrote:Bathite - I hear what you are saying, but Bath is a little bubble of high cost of living surrounded largely by average costing areas.
But, SW london is pretty much 15-20% higher than national average. (I'm looking at housing prices here).

And I can imagine that the very presence of a certain Bath supporter would be enough to drag the cost of living there to well below its actual worth.

Jimpy wrote:

propdavid_london wrote:Bathite - I hear what you are saying, but Bath is a little bubble of high cost of living surrounded largely by average costing areas.
But, SW london is pretty much 15-20% higher than national average. (I'm looking at housing prices here).

And I can imagine that the very presence of a certain Bath supporter would be enough to drag the cost of living there to well below its actual worth.

You two just need a seperate thread were you can wind each other up in peace!

propdavid_london wrote:Bathite - I hear what you are saying, but Bath is a little bubble of high cost of living surrounded largely by average costing areas.
But, SW london is pretty much 15-20% higher than national average. (I'm looking at housing prices here).

That's kind of my point mate, so it would be open to abuse. Theoretically you could argue for a Bath weighting, but then live in Twerton!

Bathite wrote:

Jimpy wrote:

propdavid_london wrote:Bathite - I hear what you are saying, but Bath is a little bubble of high cost of living surrounded largely by average costing areas.
But, SW london is pretty much 15-20% higher than national average. (I'm looking at housing prices here).

And I can imagine that the very presence of a certain Bath supporter would be enough to drag the cost of living there to well below its actual worth.

You two just need a seperate thread were you can wind each other up in peace!

Oh I would love a Mod to set up the HERSH/jimpy thread - with all other posters banned from submitting

LondonTiger wrote:

Bathite wrote:

Jimpy wrote:

propdavid_london wrote:Bathite - I hear what you are saying, but Bath is a little bubble of high cost of living surrounded largely by average costing areas.
But, SW london is pretty much 15-20% higher than national average. (I'm looking at housing prices here).

And I can imagine that the very presence of a certain Bath supporter would be enough to drag the cost of living there to well below its actual worth.

You two just need a seperate thread were you can wind each other up in peace!

Oh I would love a Mod to set up the HERSH/jimpy thread - with all other posters banned from submitting

You assume I was referring to him? I mentioned no names. Just goes to show how keen people are to get upset on behalf of others....

Was anyone getting upset?

LondonTiger wrote:Was anyone getting upset?

Sorry, I meant 'getting involved in something that has nothing to do with them, or that they could quite easily ignore. As they often advocate'

Fixed it.

London based clubs are getting salary-independent advantages from being situated there so I say it is unfair to increase London salary caps

yappysnap wrote:There's lots of talk on the Quins board about us not being able to afford both Nick Evans and James Johnston as we're dangerously close to the salary cap.

Now if this is the case then how can other teams packed full of Int players operate?

Leicester have the likes of Cole, Castro, Croft, Waldrom, Crane, Youngs and Flood in their squad amongst others.

Saracens have Borthwick, Stevens, Brits, Hodgson, Strettle, Ashton, Tomkins and Goode.

Bath have Attwood, Louw, Classens, Donald, Banahan and Eastmond.

How does this work?

Most of those Tigers and Sarries players will have been bought farms and restaurants!

I would imagine Tim Fairbrother leaving has freed up a bit of cash. I know Glaws were talking to him before Quins signed him, but the talks came to an abrupt halt when salary was discussed! I think the issue with Evans and Johnstone potentially going is not so much that you can't afford to keep them, but more that the money being offered from Japan/France is rather obscene.