
A fresh attempt to give Super League clubs salary cap dispensation to sign players from Salford Red Devils will be made this week.
The cash-strapped Red Devils have been ordered by the governing body to sell players in an attempt to cut costs by around £800,000.
With the new season less than a month away, many Super League sides have spent close to or their full limit, but clubs last week rejected the RFL’s proposal to exempt Salford Red Devils players from the 2025 salary cap, if they move to a rival outfit.
The situation is due to be discussed again at a clubs’ meeting on Wednesday and Leeds Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington reckons salary cap dispensation would “increase Salford’s chances of survival because it means they can offload some players, get transfer fees and offload the wages”.
He revealed: “We have made an amendment [to last week’s proposal] to say clubs with spare salary cap capacity should have first option to sign Salford players.
“There should be a window of maybe several weeks for that to happen and subsequently if Salford still need to sign players beyond that period, then there should be a dispensation – for 2025 only – to all clubs to sign one player from Salford.
“That in many ways flies in the face of what we’ve been advocating, which is we’ve got to exert more cost control, not increase spending, but the priority here is to keep Salford solvent.”
The Leeds chief admitted there is “very strong feeling” among clubs about Salford’s plight.
He added: “Clubs are saying it is a totally self-inflicted situation – they have over-spent without having the income to support that spending.
“In the past, other clubs – like Castleford last year – have had to manage the best way they could; they didn’t over-spend and they’ve kept themselves afloat. Salford should have done the same.
“So there’s some clubs who don’t have much sympathy for them, but at the end of the day, for the integrity of the game and the competition and everything that goes with it, it is important we all do as much as we can to keep Salford afloat.
An Australian-based group, with an NRL background, are believed to be interested in gaining ownership of Salford, who are due to play Leeds in their first home game this season, on Saturday, February 22. A takeover would negate the need to sell players and Hetherington stressed: “If they get new owners who want to retain the squad they’ve got and they can financially underpin Salford for the rest of the season, that is the ideal solution.”

joel
January 20, 2025 at 4:36 pm
we already know now that salford will be replaced in super league, which club will get the point? that’s the question
John
January 20, 2025 at 6:40 pm
Probably Toulouse as they were less than half a point behind Salford in the end of 2024 gradings, with York and London more than a point behind them, but a bit premature to be talking about that if a buyer comes forward who can support the club and help them to move forward with the squad they have already.
If the worst happens, I’m not sure Hetherington’s idea will work. From Salford’s perspective and that of their players, I’d be holding out until everyone has dispensation to bid, secure in the knowledge that both transfer fees and salaries would be higher with more competition.