Should NRL salaries be made public?

Another season, another salary cap drama. In the past it has been the Storm, the Eels and most recently the Sea Eagles.

2018 seems to be the Sharks' turn to be placed under the salary cap microscope.

While we wait for details to emerge we'll continue to do what those on social media do best, speculate without any information.

While we do that, a few genuine discussion points have come up. The first being the revamping of the third party agreements.

I don't have the time, energy or hair to pull out to discuss the current set up and it's flaws, but I think everyone can agree the current system isn't great.

The other discussion point raised, as it usually is after any cap drama hits the headlines, is the call to make players salaries public.

The thinking is that as this works in the US in sports such as basketball, well it must work here down under.

The genuine thinking is that by announcing player salaries and registering contracts to that value, it would be very difficult to hide player payments off the books.

If player X is announced to be on $320,000 a season, his contract would obviously match that. Even the worst of us with numbers would be able to add up the top 25 announced contracts and see if it comes in under the salary cap figure.

EASY AS.

Except it's pretty much the system we have now, except with tweets or press releases to let us know what each player is on.

The current system is a player's salary is reported and a contract signed, only the general punter such as you and me are left to speculate the exact numbers.

Personally I can't see how a tweet confirming Ben Hunt is on $1.2 million a year stops off the books payments or ensures third party agreements are organised without club involvement.

I also don't see me knowing what Corey Oates is on has to do with agent fees, long service consessions or rep payments.

Good to sticky beak though I suppose.

Personally I can only see negativity (sorry, sorry) in making salaries public.

Firstly it would make it too easy for lay journalists (cough) to take pot shots. Instead of saying Ben Hunt is not justifying his reported $1.2 million a year contract, they could say he's not justifying his exact salary.

You can't tell me players wouldn't be judged far more harshly if numbers got out.

Say Oates signs for $400k, with young Sione Katoa on $80,000. Katoa outplays Oates one Saturday evening at Shark Park and suddenly he feels he's worth the $400k a season.

Of course he wouldn't being such a humble kid, but it would certainly happen.

Social media is already enough of a punish, I'd love to avoid the undoubted feed-clogging hot takes of those armed with new material to lay grief on players from behind a keyboard.

Also I don't really think it's anyone's business what a player is earning.

I wouldn't be comfortable making my salary public. I don't know how many people reading this would lead a conversation with "Hi my name is Dan and I earn ... a year".

Why put NRL players through that invasion of privacy just because a few clubs had trouble balancing their books?

I just don't see the jump here. It doesn't matter how many people know what players are earning, if a club wants to bypass the system, it will.

It doesnt matter whether it's on a contract, on the books or on social media, if a player is signed for $450,000 they should be paid just that. Unfortunately there are instances where that doesn't happen. Announcing the salary won't fix that.

I'm not strongly against the practice, I just don't see the point.

It would make my nights easier. Oh look, player Y should be producing X amount of Z stat each game according to L salary over U years. Ugh, maybe not.

Please let us know below what you think of player salaries being made public. Do you see the positives? Would it mean players are subject to more scrutiny as a result of knowing exactly their worth?

Another point of discussion; should it just be the players salaries of coaching staff, footballing department, and other arms of the clubs be made public also?