Dragons close to capping it off

[Capital_Shark]

Dragons close to capping it off
June 01, 2007

ST GEORGE-Illawarra last night conceded it will soon struggle to field a full team within the rules if the club's horrendous injury toll does not abate.

With more than half the season still remaining, the joint venture outfit is already perilously close to breaching the second-tier salary cap for players elevated to NRL from outside its top-25 squad.

Thanks to a shocking injury run that has left Ben Creagh as the only Dragon to feature in every game this year, St George-Illawarra's $350,000 secondary cap has almost been exhausted even ahead of tonight's do-or-die showdown against Brisbane. Broncos

On a day when the club was fined $74,975 for prior cap infringements, the Dragons CEO Peter Doust confirmed the crisis was approaching critical mass.
"We are near the limit, yes," Doust told The Daily Telegraph last night.
"We have probably only got one more substantial decision to make (before we break the cap). Every time that we have to go outside our top 25, it is putting more pressure on the secondary cap.

"When you look at previous years, we've already had to do that a lot more this season."

Of a total of 30 Dragons used in first grade this season, seven have been drawn from outside the top squad.

The latest is New Zealand-born prop Ricky Thorby, who paid his own way across the Tasman to trial with the club late last year.

Thorby will make his NRL debut tonight alongside seven other players who have done likewise earlier this year.

The 21-year-old is also one of five players who will take the field - the others being Jason Nightingale, Chase Stanley, Rangi Chase and Ben Ellis - from outside the top squad.

Their sudden rise comes at the expense of a host of injured stars - including co-captains Mark Gasnier, Ben Hornby and Jason Ryles. First-choice starters Dean Young, Ashton Sims, Wes Naiqama and Brett Morris are also missing.
Doust also pointed out the cap-inspired juggling act could affect team selections.

He explained that, to avoid breaking the cap, coach Nathan Brown might be less inclined to select a fresh second-tier player because his contract value would be added to the accrued total.

"It can have an effect on selection because a player's form might not be the only factor," Doust said.

"But hopefully we'll get some of our top 25 back from injury and reduce the risk (of breaking the cap)".

Brown last night agreed that finances "came into" the selection debate, but insisted Thorby's appointment was merit-based.

"It's actually worked out well this week, because he's the form player in premier league and he's on bugger-all money," Brown said.

"It would might have been different if we had wanted to pick a guy on 30 or 40 grand."

Should the crisis not recede, Doust indicated the club would have little choice but to wear another fine next year.

Part of yesterday's NRL bill included a second-tier breach from 2006.
"We are not going to run a team on to the field with 12 players," Doust said.

We've had to make the same decisions before. It's not happened quite yet, but it has happened in the past."

With a spare-parts Dragons team facing the might of the Broncos' nine internationals, bookies have been flattened by a rush of support for the visiting side.

In the biggest plunge of 2007, nearly $100,000 was this week splurged with TAB Sportsbet on the Broncos to cover an 8.5 points start.

"The punters believe we've got it hopelessly wrong," TAB Sportsbet spokesman Glenn Munsie said last night.

"But both teams are on the same points in last spot.

That said, tonight's game carries near-fatal significance for the losers.

Source: FoxSports.com.au

[Cowboy Titan]

In the biggest plunge of 2007, nearly $100,000 was this week splurged with TAB Sportsbet on the Broncos to cover an 8.5 points start.

I guess there's plenty of unhappy people with the result tonight, especially if you blew $100,000 on it. Nothing is ever a certainty in the NRL these days.

[Steve]

Surely there's got to be some sort of common sense rulings with the cap.
When players are genuinely injured, there's little choice but to bring in the lower grade players. Teams shouldn't be penalised for this, and shouldn't be forced to pick players who aren't up to it because a form player would put them over the cap.

[Social Loafer]

Surely there's got to be some sort of common sense rulings with the cap.
When players are genuinely injured, there's little choice but to bring in the lower grade players. Teams shouldn't be penalised for this, and shouldn't be forced to pick players who aren't up to it because a form player would put them over the cap.

It is a joke.. When it gets to the point where the side has no players left without exceeding the cap, what does the NRL want them to do?
Field 16 men..

[Hoppy2007Dragons]

I'm sure the nrl will work somethign out now that this situation has arisen, other than that though clubs just have to take the fines.

I suggest raising the second tier cap from 350,000 to 500,000 as this would cover these type of situations that are becoming more common, particularly at st george.