Players bear brunt of stuff-ups
By Willie Mason
March 11, 2006
I FELT sorry for the New Zealand Warriors players yesterday when the NRL decided to stand by its punishment and start the club on minus four points for 2006.
I understand the club had to be punished for breaching the salary cap - especially when you consider what happened to the Bulldogs and their supporters in 2002 - but I still feel sorry for the players.
In 2002, we did not know where any of the money was coming from - not that I was getting any third party payments. No one in the team knew where the payments were coming from.
We were only worried about getting our contracts settled. Where the money comes from does not really concern you as a player - as long as you are paying all of your bills.
I know from speaking to other players that a lot of their managers do everything for them.
He gets the best money for you. All you worry about after that is signing the contract and playing good footy. That is my attitude and I know that is the attitude of 95 per cent of players in the NRL.
That is what is so disappointing about the Warriors' situation because the players bear the whole brunt of the administration stuffing it up.
They are just there to play football and they are the ones that have paid the ultimate price.
Maybe, as players, we really have to start looking at where our money is coming from. You think it is coming from the club and not through third-party payments and stuff like that.
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But probably the reason why clubs are doing it is because the salary cap has only gone up by a small margin in four years.
The price of living and everything has gone up so why hasn't the salary cap? If everything else is getting more expensive, I think the salary cap should go up as well.
There is so much talent in the NRL that they can afford it and the best players should be on the best money. If there wasn't such a tight squeeze on the salary cap things like the Warriors' situation would not occur.
Starting on minus four points will be tough for them but there is so much talent in the New Zealand side they will be able to cope.
It's only four points - even though I know four points is a lot in the competition these days. Four points can mean the difference between making the eight or not. They will have to work hard but I think a lot of good things come from adversity.
There is a lot of pressure on the players to perform and, if they stick together, they should do it.
I suppose it can go either of two ways. It can either galvanise them and make them stronger or people will start getting the shits and get filthy at the club and not want to play for them.
With the leaders they have in Steve Price and Ruben Wiki, who have been around for years, I think it will galvanise them. The Warriors have never been through this sort of controversy before and this is their first hurdle.
As for the Bulldogs, we are just looking forward to getting back into it against Penrith at Telstra Stadium tonight after our disappointing finish to the season last year.
We couldn't manage to win the final six games and that was very hard because there was a lot of effort going in. Even though we were getting beaten, everyone was still trying but there were a couple of things letting us down. I cannot describe the feeling; it was just very frustrating.
Hopefully the players' decision to select a leadership group this year will turn our fortunes around. The group has seven players in it including me, Andrew Ryan, Tony Grimaldi, Adam Perry, Corey Hughes, Mark O'Meley and Sonny Bill Williams.
We meet once a week and talk about how the week was at training and if everybody is doing the things that we need to be doing. If you're not doing it, you get told straight to your face.
There is no joking around, you cannot be late to training, there is no midweek drinking. It is very strict.
I suppose it is probably a little bit more responsibility for myself. I really enjoy it because there are a lot of young players in the club now who look up to me. I have got to be setting the right example for the younger sort of blokes.
I lead while I am on the field but off the field I do a little bit more so it does give me extra responsibility not to stuff up, go out drinking and set a bad example for the young guys.
Training is still fun but everyone is really switched on and the goal is to make the finals.
Hopefully it works out because there has been a lot of hard work in the pre-season
By Willie Mason
March 11, 2006
I FELT sorry for the New Zealand Warriors players yesterday when the NRL decided to stand by its punishment and start the club on minus four points for 2006.
I understand the club had to be punished for breaching the salary cap - especially when you consider what happened to the Bulldogs and their supporters in 2002 - but I still feel sorry for the players.
In 2002, we did not know where any of the money was coming from - not that I was getting any third party payments. No one in the team knew where the payments were coming from.
We were only worried about getting our contracts settled. Where the money comes from does not really concern you as a player - as long as you are paying all of your bills.
I know from speaking to other players that a lot of their managers do everything for them.
He gets the best money for you. All you worry about after that is signing the contract and playing good footy. That is my attitude and I know that is the attitude of 95 per cent of players in the NRL.
That is what is so disappointing about the Warriors' situation because the players bear the whole brunt of the administration stuffing it up.
They are just there to play football and they are the ones that have paid the ultimate price.
Maybe, as players, we really have to start looking at where our money is coming from. You think it is coming from the club and not through third-party payments and stuff like that.
Advertisement:
But probably the reason why clubs are doing it is because the salary cap has only gone up by a small margin in four years.
The price of living and everything has gone up so why hasn't the salary cap? If everything else is getting more expensive, I think the salary cap should go up as well.
There is so much talent in the NRL that they can afford it and the best players should be on the best money. If there wasn't such a tight squeeze on the salary cap things like the Warriors' situation would not occur.
Starting on minus four points will be tough for them but there is so much talent in the New Zealand side they will be able to cope.
It's only four points - even though I know four points is a lot in the competition these days. Four points can mean the difference between making the eight or not. They will have to work hard but I think a lot of good things come from adversity.
There is a lot of pressure on the players to perform and, if they stick together, they should do it.
I suppose it can go either of two ways. It can either galvanise them and make them stronger or people will start getting the shits and get filthy at the club and not want to play for them.
With the leaders they have in Steve Price and Ruben Wiki, who have been around for years, I think it will galvanise them. The Warriors have never been through this sort of controversy before and this is their first hurdle.
As for the Bulldogs, we are just looking forward to getting back into it against Penrith at Telstra Stadium tonight after our disappointing finish to the season last year.
We couldn't manage to win the final six games and that was very hard because there was a lot of effort going in. Even though we were getting beaten, everyone was still trying but there were a couple of things letting us down. I cannot describe the feeling; it was just very frustrating.
Hopefully the players' decision to select a leadership group this year will turn our fortunes around. The group has seven players in it including me, Andrew Ryan, Tony Grimaldi, Adam Perry, Corey Hughes, Mark O'Meley and Sonny Bill Williams.
We meet once a week and talk about how the week was at training and if everybody is doing the things that we need to be doing. If you're not doing it, you get told straight to your face.
There is no joking around, you cannot be late to training, there is no midweek drinking. It is very strict.
I suppose it is probably a little bit more responsibility for myself. I really enjoy it because there are a lot of young players in the club now who look up to me. I have got to be setting the right example for the younger sort of blokes.
I lead while I am on the field but off the field I do a little bit more so it does give me extra responsibility not to stuff up, go out drinking and set a bad example for the young guys.
Training is still fun but everyone is really switched on and the goal is to make the finals.
Hopefully it works out because there has been a lot of hard work in the pre-season
