Thursday 6 April 2017 11:34, UK
Salford owner Marwan Koukash says it is a “fantastic day” for Super League after clubs backed proposals to increase the salary cap.
On Wednesday clubs voted to increase the salary cap from its current figure of just over £1.8m incrementally to £2.1m by 2020 and have backed plans to provide teams with exemptions from the cap for players aged under 21 or those new or returning to the sport.
Representatives also voted to increase the number of marquee players allowed at each club from one to two, with the RFL set to meet on Thursday to ratify the proposals.
Koukash says all these measures are vitally important in helping to "stop the drain" of talent to rugby nnion or the NRL and encouraging the best players to move to Super League.
"It is a very, very important day. The decisions that were made yesterday can only be good, not just for Super League but for rugby league in general," he told Sky Sports News HQ.
"All of a sudden we could compete with the NRL and rugby union for the best talent around. Over the last five or 10 years we were continuously losing our best talent to go out there.
"The salary cap increase is only a small amount compared to other allowances we were granted yesterday. For example, every club now is entitled to two marquee players regardless of what we pay them. So, although the salary cap is going to go up to £2.1m, in theory any club within Super League or rugby league can spend as much as they like.
"They can spend £5m if they choose to because now we've got the two marquee players, an increase in salary cap and we can sign as many rugby union players as we wish without them being included in the cap.
"We could start now going to rugby union bringing some of their best talent into rugby league, stop the drain of losing our best players to the NRL, we could go to NRL and bring their best talent here, so it is a fantastic day."
Koukash also believes the potential changes will help to attract lucrative investors to the sport.
"From my point of view, I have always campaigned for such changes. Such changes will help myself but it will help everybody else in the league," he said.
"I don't think it will make a massive difference to who finishes first, second or third but it will allow other investors to come into the sport. It wouldn't surprise me if in three or four years' time, you see the likes of Newcastle, Coventry, other big brands coming into Super League.
"There are investors out there, they want to come into the sport, they want to see there is a genuine chance for them by investing their money that they could compete in Super League."
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