Tuesday 4 April 2017 12:58, UK
Super League clubs will meet in Salford on Wednesday to vote on an increased salary cap for the top-flight clubs.
They will be asked to vote on a number of proposals, which are believed to include an increase in the current salary cap of club's in England's top flight alongside a raft of new exemptions; for example, players signed from rugby union.
At the moment, clubs can spend £1.85 million on their squad, with a further £175,000 allowed for a marquee signing.
Roger Draper, in his first year as Super League executive director and Chief Commercial Officer, sees player retention as a key priority and the topic will headline the agenda for club chairmen and chief executives when they gather at Super League headquarters at MediaCityUK.
Draper, the former chief executive of the Lawn Tennis Association, is keen to halt the drain of players from Super League to the NRL, where Joe Greenwood, Dan Sarginson and Jordan Turner moved this year, and to keep rugby union at bay following the recent switch by Denny Solomona.
The cap, introduced into Super League in 1999 with the twin aim of increasing the competitiveness of Super League and preventing clubs from spending beyond their means, has barely kept pace with inflation over the last 18 years, although a marquee player rule was brought in two years ago. In 2010, the cap stood at £1.65m.
In Australia, the NRL are proposing to increase their cap to more than £5m next season while the cap in rugby union's Aviva Premiership stands at £7m.
Draper also wants to see the introduction of central contracts as a way of keeping hold of the game's elite talent but that is a matter for the governing body, the Rugby Football League, which is expected to update the Super League clubs on its latest plans.
