Rugby League ‘has to think differently’ as legend Martin Offiah ridicules Super League salary cap

Rugby league legend Martin Offiah has suggested that the salary cap is holding Super League back.

Offiah, part of the sport’s Hall of Fame, was a legendary winger – with 446 tries in 424 club appearances as well as 34 tries in 38 GB and England appearances.

However, he started out in rugby union, scouted by Widnes while playing in a Middlesex Sevens tournament at Allianz Stadium.

A legend of international rugby league, his profile Down Under was also boosted by two spells playing for Sydney Roosters – then called Eastern Suburbs.

Recently, in the Daily Mail, he argued about the sport’s status in England, relative to where it sits Down Under and why.

He noted: “Rugby league is so big in Australia, but that’s where it can rebound back to us and help us grow and be bigger than rugby union.

“If Super League becomes bigger than the NRL, that’s how we become bigger than union. We have to think differently. Rugby league’s first mistake is saying they want to be No 2 because that’s their mentality.

“You reframe that by saying, ‘I want rugby league to be bigger than it’s ever been in this country before’. You have to shoot for the stars.”

His comments have come after a positive international window in both hemispheres, amidst talk of the Ashes returning in 2025, and ahead of Super League’s first involvement in Las Vegas.

Rugby league legend Martin Offiah calls for an end to Super League salary cap

One of the major differences between Super League and the NRL is the sheer money involved and that’s so evident in terms of the salary cap with Super League sides afforded just £2.1 million to build their squad, relative to the $12.1 million down under, roughly three times as much when the currencies are converted.

“Course it does,” was Offiah’s response when asked whether the salary cap needs to be scrapped in Super League for it to overtake NRL, before adding: “It came in with Super League because they didn’t want Wigan winning everything, but all it did was push everything down.

“Why do you think you can be the biggest sport paying the smallest wages Who told you that’s a possibility?

“If I’m in the crowd watching a game, and I’m earning more than the people on the pitch, do you think I respect them? Do you think I want my kids to aspire to be them?”

Currently, the discrepancy between the NRL salary cap and that of the Super League is so large that clubs Down Under are capable of tempting the best Super League players over to the competition with Matty Nicholson being the latest example.