Exclusive: Super League’s quality could take nosedive if salary cap restrictions are not eased, believes Peacock

England captain Jamie Peacock last night spoke of his fears Super League could collapse beyond repair unless the salary cap is raised to compete with Australian rivals and rugby union.

He urged the game’s rulers to be “bold and radical” or risk the competition being ruined amid a mass player exodus.

The NRL in Australia is set to increase its cap to $7m – around £4.75m – while there is persistent talk of rugby union raising its own £4m spending barrier.

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Super League currently sees clubs able to pay just £1.7m per year on players’ wages and Leeds Rhinos star Peacock is concerned that if it stays at such a level it might prove calamitous for the English game.

“It is a big worry for me about where Super League could end up,” he told the Yorkshire Post.

“The game needs bold and brave leadership from its administrators to divert us from potential crisis.

“They need to be radical. There’s no point thinking about it and acting in a few seasons’ time.

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“They have to do it now. I really do fear for what might happen if they don’t. The game here could suffer a real nosedive.”

It was confirmed yesterday that Peacock has regained the England captaincy for the inaugural match against the Exiles in a week having missed the Four Nations due to a knee injury.

Super League’s finest overseas players will represent the Exiles in an attempt to give England some meaningful competition after years of one-sided affairs with France.

Peacock – whose Leeds side face St Helens this evening – is a firm believer in the concept and hopes it expands into an annual series.

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But he warned: “We might not even be able to field an Exiles team soon because there’ll be no class Aussies and New Zealanders playing in Super League.

“I’m looking forward to the match and it is just what we need as an international side but will it be there in the future?”

The talismanic prop, 33, argues the leading overseas players will return to the NRL which has been augmented by a new television deal worth £663m over five years.

Traditionally, they have prospered in the UK due to an advantageous exchange rate but that has reversed dramatically and the developments pose new threats.

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“Their cap has gone up from $4.3m to $7m – that is a huge hike,” said Peacock.

“Before the weakness of the pound against the (Australian) dollar even comes into it, it’s obvious how much more appealing that will be and we know interest rates here aren’t going to change much in the next few years.

“I know of players in Super League who have regretted coming over and signing for a few years because they now know how much they could earn back home. In the end, money does talk.

“You won’t see Australian stars as good as Danny Buderus, Craig Fitzgibbon and Matt King joining Super League clubs anymore but also more and more English players will head over there, too, so we’d get hit twice.

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“It’s not only the bigger names who might go; with their cap, Australian clubs could take an average English player who earns £40,000 a year and throw £100,000 at him easily just as a back-up player.

“It will dilute our game here massively and we can’t afford to let that happen.”

With England team-mate James Graham heading to Sydney club Canterbury Bulldogs next season and scrum-half Kyle Eastmond joining Bath RU, Peacock is keen to see the cap increase to £2.5m with each club’s most expensive recruit taken off.

However, it is understood most Super League clubs have agreed not to press for a change to the limit in the foreseeable future.

Wakefield captain Glenn Morrison was yesterday added to the Exiles squad as Brian McClennan’s final pick along with St Helens prop Josh Perry and Huddersfield’s David Fa’alago.