Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue May 24, 2022 9:41 am  

Egg Chasing wrote:

I think we may finally see the year of the wolf if it gets scrapped.

I would go back to a % of income personally. Rewards the clubs that can be bothered to try and get fans through the door and promote the club/sport. The message to the stay away fans then is simple - turn up and you can sign better players.

Warrington would gave regular crowds of 40,000 in their 15,000 capacity stadium

I wouldn’t be against it. Something needs changing anyway, although I won’t hold my breath. My heart sank when I heard about the vote to reduce it.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue May 24, 2022 9:53 am  

NickyKiss wrote:

Warrington would gave regular crowds of 40,000 in their 15,000 capacity stadium

I wouldn’t be against it. Something needs changing anyway, although I won’t hold my breath. My heart sank when I heard about the vote to reduce it.

As much as I'd hate to see it, I'm in the "so be it" camp too.

As a sport, we need to look at letting the clubs be the absolute best versions of themselves that they can be. If that means Wire spending big, then so be it. It gives everyone a target to reach Vs the green-eyed monsters we have at the min.

For far too long, the smaller clubs have held the sport down.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue May 24, 2022 9:55 am  

I didn’t know about the tax differences but that sounds like a big lure but I have also heard about the French lads being short changed as they affectively have a monopoly on them to a point. Although that will have changed a little with Tolouse in the league.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue May 24, 2022 10:02 am  

NickyKiss wrote:

So the old level playing field teams wanted isn’t quite as level as they’d hoped for. I’d read about the tax rules helping them out but wasn’t aware there was anything more to it. So basically they won’t break any cap rules but that’s because they’re legally able to get more money in to their players pockets. I’m happy for teams to pay what they think they can afford anyway but it makes a mockery of bothering with a cap in the first place.

The RFL I believe agreed an exchange rate for the euro equivalent and currently (since Brexit) Catalans are on the best side of that conversion (or at least they were when it was last set for a certain period).
The Tax rules are just one of the incentives, there's pension rules and bonuses for top level sportspeople if they stay for "x" amount of time and if they remain in the country for a certain period after their contract then even some ofnthe tax they have paid gets returned etc.

Top line
Let's say Wigan offered Tomkins 300k a year for 3 years
He would take home maybe 550/600 of that over here
He signs a deal say at 325 at catalans and walks away with closer to 800k and with other pension and incentives to stay he will get more than that 800k as some of the tax etc he's paid he will gey back AFTER the fact

Now the above numbers are obviously made up for illustrative purposes
But the reality is the 2.1m cap (or whatever it is) were working to can in effect be classed as 25/30% higher as over here the players end up with say 1.5 of that in there pocket
French players will start with more in euros than the current Euro to GBP conversion rate, then of that money will end up with tax breaks in France with say 1.9million of that in their pocket plus other breaks at the end/2years after when some is paid back to them.

Obviously Marquee and all that is a slightly different subject but whatever is paid above the marquee level just exaggerates the gap even further.

It's not that they're necessarily paying more, it's just that the players end up with more in their pocket.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue May 24, 2022 10:09 am  

Jukesays wrote:

The RFL I believe agreed an exchange rate for the euro equivalent and currently (since Brexit) Catalans are on the best side of that conversion (or at least they were when it was last set for a certain period).
The Tax rules are just one of the incentives, there's pension rules and bonuses for top level sportspeople if they stay for "x" amount of time and if they remain in the country for a certain period after their contract then even some ofnthe tax they have paid gets returned etc.

Top line
Let's say Wigan offered Tomkins 300k a year for 3 years
He would take home maybe 550/600 of that over here
He signs a deal say at 325 at catalans and walks away with closer to 800k and with other pension and incentives to stay he will get more than that 800k as some of the tax etc he's paid he will gey back AFTER the fact

Now the above numbers are obviously made up for illustrative purposes
But the reality is the 2.1m cap (or whatever it is) were working to can in effect be classed as 25/30% higher as over here the players end up with say 1.5 of that in there pocket
French players will start with more in euros than the current Euro to GBP conversion rate, then of that money will end up with tax breaks in France with say 1.9million of that in their pocket plus other breaks at the end/2years after when some is paid back to them.

Obviously Marquee and all that is a slightly different subject but whatever is paid above the marquee level just exaggerates the gap even further.

It's not that they're necessarily paying more, it's just that the players end up with more in their pocket.

It’s interesting stuff and it’s tough to see a way round it, other than the league saying they have a lower cap but with exchange rates and the tax implications, it’s next to impossible to work it out I’d have thought.

Ultimately I don’t have an issue with it. It seems absolutely crazy their squad could have Tomkins, Johnstone, Pearce, Taukeiaho and Graham in it next year and then you have us struggling to keep players but more power to them. I’ll look forward to watching those guys play.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue May 24, 2022 10:15 am  

Jukesays wrote:

The RFL I believe agreed an exchange rate for the euro equivalent and currently (since Brexit) Catalans are on the best side of that conversion (or at least they were when it was last set for a certain period).
The Tax rules are just one of the incentives, there's pension rules and bonuses for top level sportspeople if they stay for "x" amount of time and if they remain in the country for a certain period after their contract then even some ofnthe tax they have paid gets returned etc.

Top line
Let's say Wigan offered Tomkins 300k a year for 3 years
He would take home maybe 550/600 of that over here
He signs a deal say at 325 at catalans and walks away with closer to 800k and with other pension and incentives to stay he will get more than that 800k as some of the tax etc he's paid he will gey back AFTER the fact

Now the above numbers are obviously made up for illustrative purposes
But the reality is the 2.1m cap (or whatever it is) were working to can in effect be classed as 25/30% higher as over here the players end up with say 1.5 of that in there pocket
French players will start with more in euros than the current Euro to GBP conversion rate, then of that money will end up with tax breaks in France with say 1.9million of that in their pocket plus other breaks at the end/2years after when some is paid back to them.

Obviously Marquee and all that is a slightly different subject but whatever is paid above the marquee level just exaggerates the gap even further.

It's not that they're necessarily paying more, it's just that the players end up with more in their pocket.

When you factor that in also with the rumours of them underpaying the French lads and also the lure of living in the South of France you really think they should be at the top of the tree yet it’s only been the last couple of seasons they’ve got consistency.
With regards to the cap I think it should be raised, the cost of living if flying up so an increase to say 2.4/2.5m a year would only fall in line with this roughly. Lower it much more (which has been talked about) and the lower earners will have to go part time.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue May 24, 2022 10:59 am  

Irrespective of finances, it was time for Sam Tomkins to leave Wigan after that disgraceful video came out IMO.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue May 24, 2022 11:03 am  

MadDogg wrote:

Irrespective of finances, it was time for Sam Tomkins to leave Wigan after that disgraceful video came out IMO.

It didn't put them off going back in for him though. They wanted him to play half back this year and offered a deal before he extended with Catalans.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue May 24, 2022 11:59 am  

CobraCraig wrote:

I didn’t know about the tax differences but that sounds like a big lure but I have also heard about the French lads being short changed as they affectively have a monopoly on them to a point. Although that will have changed a little with Tolouse in the league.

I was at a fans session at my work a good few years ago with Brian Noble

he was telling a story about trying to sign Jamel Fakir from Catalan, when he was at Bradford. The deal was done and signed, until the french police got involved, arrested him, and wouldnt release him unless he stayed at Catalan, so ultimately he stayed, but with very little choice

with regards to the french players, whilst it would be good to see 17 french guys playing for Catalan, there must be a development opportunity if they can spread their wings ie Fages, Navarette, Guisset etc, that can only benefit the French national team in the longer term. Now with 2 sides in the super league, they should be looking to strengthen the game in the South of France even further

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue May 24, 2022 3:18 pm  

https://warringtonwolves.com/news/2022/ ... -the-Wire/ Interesting to see whose out the door

https://warringtonwolves.com/news/2022/ ... -the-Wire/ Interesting to see whose out the door