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The Coon Dog
29-07-2008, 07:28 AM
Sonny Bill's NRL legal bombshell (http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/sonny-bills-next-bombshell/2008/07/28/1217097150152.html)


Roy Masters, Andrew Stevenson and Geesche Jacobsen | July 29, 2008


THE Bulldogs defector Sonny Bill Williams will return fire against the NRL's legal threats by challenging its salary cap, a move that could destroy the financial foundations of Australia's four football codes.

The NRL and Bulldogs launched court action against Williams yesterday for what they say is breach of a "watertight" contract. But Williams's lawyers will argue that the salary cap is an unreasonable restraint of trade - and some legal experts suggest he could succeed.

Williams was stuck in London last night, with visa difficulties delaying his move to France, but before he fled the Bulldogs last Saturday a leading Sydney barrister prepared a legal strategy to challenge the salary cap, which sets a ceiling of the total amount clubs can pay their players.

If Williams, 22, was successful it would represent the worst nightmare for Australia's four football codes, which all rely on caps to restrain player payments.

The Bulldogs star has been summonsed to appear next Tuesday at a hearing of the NRL's and Bulldogs' application for an injunction to prevent Williams playing or training with a rugby club in France - provided lawyers can find and serve papers on him in person before 6pm on Sunday, Sydney time. Williams's lawyers will say the Bulldogs can pay more than his existing $450,000-a-year contract but are prevented from doing so by NRL rules that create salary parity across its 16 clubs. Williams is expected to earn the equivalent of $3 million for two years with the French club Toulon.

Should an Australian court find in favour of the New Zealand international, it would entitle the AFL Players' Association to challenge the Australian rules salary cap, dismantling a club structure that has preserved a competitive balance for 30 years and prevented billionaires such as the Carlton patron Dick Pratt spending whatever they wanted to plunder the talent of rivals.

The Australian Rugby Union also imposes "contracting protocols" which set maximums on what its four Super 14 clubs pay players, an arrangement even more vulnerable because it was reached without the input of its players' association. Soccer's A-League has a salary cap in place, with a single marquee player allowed to earn full market value.

The player manager Steve Gillis warned that several more NRL stars are on the verge of leaving the game. "They're looking for our very best players," he said. "They'll knock them off one by by one. I think you'll find if there's four or five this year. There'll be 10 next year, probably 20 or 30 the next year. If Sonny Bill Williams is allowed to walk out on his contract and there's no rearguard action, I would expect that other players would want to follow suit."

The NRL chief executive David Gallop and the Bulldogs chief executive Todd Greenberg launched a legal campaign they warned may result in Williams's assets being seized and the player himself arrested or even jailed.

"Ultimately, if these proceedings were to reach the end conclusion and he was to ignore them, then he's facing criminal charges," Mr Gallop said. "He's liable to criminal charges which can involve arrest, can involve seizure of his assets in Australia."

But their first challenge is to find him, with the Supreme Court rejecting their bid for "substituted service" and forcing lawyers to serve the documents to Williams in person. The club had asked the court to allow it to serve Khoder Nasser, who it had believed was Williams's manager, or the Toulon club with the documents for Williams. But Justice Robert Austin, who said he had not heard Williams's side of the story, rejected the application, arguing that informing the French club of the allegations could do "irreparable harm" to Williams.

Mr Gallop said: "The sanctity of his contract is one of the reasons why he has conducted himself in such a secretive and deceitful way. If his contract was not watertight, he could have gone to the Bulldogs and said, 'I want out.' The clear assumption is that he has received advice that his best chance is to secretly and furtively leave the country and avoid service of a summons."

He admitted: "Of course the prospect of lucrative contracts being on offer overseas is a concern for us … It's far more difficult to come up with a foolproof solution."

The Supreme Court heard that Mr Nasser, who on Sunday told Channel Nine he was no longer Williams's agent, had been involved in discussions with the club as late as Saturday. Even on the day Williams was leaving the country, Mr Nasser had assured the club that Williams would continue to play for the Bulldogs.

Arthur Moses, barrister for the Bulldogs, said Mr Nasser's brother was travelling with Williams, and the boxer Anthony Mundine had taken him to the airport on Saturday. Mr Moses said the club had been deceived and hoodwinked by Mr Nasser.

Mantis
29-07-2008, 08:17 AM
Shaping up as a huge test case.

I think our game is safe from any challenges as there is no other game like ours, but it could get very interesting if the courts rule in favour of Williams. The bosses at AFL house will be busy seeking legal advice as we speak.

But in reality I'm not a huge fan of the NRL so I hope it falls on it's arse.

bulldogtragic
29-07-2008, 09:58 AM
I don't like it. Yes we have a multi-millionaire who could buy the entire league like Pratt, but that is not the point. Players (mercanaries) like Judas Brown, Judd will just follow the coin. The skill of recruiting goes out the window because you you can find the 'Clayton Specials', develop them and have them poached.

SBW is a disgrace to Australian Sport, this action has wide reaching ramafications and if successful i hope the sporting community makes sure he is never welcome back in Autralia.

Go_Dogs
29-07-2008, 10:39 AM
I think our game is safe from any challenges as there is no other game like ours.

I tend to agree. If there were many other international AFL competitions where players earning huge amounts of money, the AFL would definitely have to have a close look at this. The fact is there is not, and as such I don't think a restraint of trade issue arises in our game.

Let's hope anyway, I bet Carlton board members are licking their lips.

Dry Rot
29-07-2008, 10:44 AM
First we lose our major sponsor during the worst financial crisis since the Second World War, then we have serious problems with our redevelopment and now this - there are some ugly planets getting into alignment for us.

If SBW wins his case, it will create a precedent for some disgruntled AFL player to dismantle our salary cap system. It may also embolden such a player to take on the draft system too.

Sockeye Salmon
29-07-2008, 01:27 PM
If SBW wins this case there will be 12 AFL clubs within 10 years - and none of them will be us.

bulldogtragic
29-07-2008, 01:38 PM
If SBW wins this case there will be 12 AFL clubs within 10 years - and none of them will be us.
Exactly.

I think the AFLPA needs to make a strong statement against this, right now.

Sockeye Salmon
29-07-2008, 01:44 PM
Exactly.

I think the AFLPA needs to make a strong statement against this, right now.

What's more important to the AFLPA, more members with jobs or more money for the best players?

Topdog
29-07-2008, 01:56 PM
There is no way SBW will win the case.

The courts don't like to get involved in this kind of thing and there is nothing in the salary cap restricting him from going to another club in Australia or England.

The only thing restricting him is him being greedy, signing a five year contract and then trying to get out of it.

Cyberdoggie
29-07-2008, 01:57 PM
Shaping up as a huge test case.

I think our game is safe from any challenges as there is no other game like ours, but it could get very interesting if the courts rule in favour of Williams. The bosses at AFL house will be busy seeking legal advice as we speak.

But in reality I'm not a huge fan of the NRL so I hope it falls on it's arse.

same. Bring the nrl down i say.

at the same time i hope this money grubbing little $%^& can't get out of his contract.

GVGjr
29-07-2008, 07:29 PM
As far as I am concerned there is no case to answer.

I don't know why the NRL just don't just simply de-register him as a player and get both the NZ and Australian Rugby Union codes to agree that he is not welcome to play in their competitions either. Let him bum around Europe.

He is not the sharpest tool in the box and this smacks of Mundine putting him up to it.

The point is that if he wants out then let him go but set a precedent that any player that breaks a long contract within the NRL will never play here again.

My guess is that once that is established, only guys in their late 20's or 30's will look to make the bigger money overseas.

westdog54
29-07-2008, 09:16 PM
As far as I am concerned there is no case to answer.

I don't know why the NRL just don't just simply de-register him as a player and get both the NZ and Australian Rugby Union codes to agree that he is not welcome to play in their competitions either. Let him bum around Europe.

He is not the sharpest tool in the box and this smacks of Mundine putting him up to it.

The point is that if he wants out then let him go but set a precedent that any player that breaks a long contract within the NRL will never play here again.

My guess is that once that is established, only guys in their late 20's or 30's will look to make the bigger money overseas.

It seems that the only way that Rugby League players, coaches and officials know how to deal with any sort of disagreement is to chest-beat. We have Nathan Brown come out and say that his players should have hit ours harder. We have the 'hands off our players or else' attitude towards union. Now its 'We're going to sue the pants off SBW rather than get rid of him and be done with it'.

If the NRL want to plough head on into legal action, so be it. But God help them if they drag Melbourne, the Kangaroos and us down with them. Their pride and their rush to make rash decisons could be their demise.