The NRL has granted St George Illawarra salary cap dispensation for the disease that has denied stricken fullback Cody Ramsey the chance to play this season.
This masthead can reveal the NRL has finalised its review into the Dragons’ request to get Ramsey’s contract removed from this year’s salary cap and have decided to make an exemption for his unique situation.
Under NRL rules, the only form of salary cap relief afforded to a club is for players who are either forced into retirement through injury or for players who suffer injuries while playing representative football.
Ramsey, who has undergone close to half a dozen surgeries after being hospitalised with ulcerative colitis before Christmas, does not want to retire and the goal of playing in the NRL one day remains his strongest motivation.
The NRL is desperate to avoid opening Pandora’s Box by applying discretion around the rules but is sympathetic to the Dragons’ predicament – losing their first-choice fullback in the pre-season with a disease that not only threatens his career but also his way of life.
It’s why head office will provide the Dragons with dispensation for the value of Ramsey’s contract. It’s believed Ramsey, who is off contract at the end of next year, is on a deal worth around $350,000-$400,000 per season.
Cody Ramsey back at Dragons training.Credit: Morgan Taylor
The NRL has placed a set of conditions on the exemption. The Dragons can’t use the relief to upgrade a top-30 player. They also need to replace Ramsey with a player deemed a like-for-like replacement.
The Dragons had filled their top-30 squad but now have one roster spot available following the release of former State of Origin and international prop forward Aaron Woods to the Sea Eagles at the start of the month.
Complicating matters for the Dragons is the unknown around Ramsey’s future. Signing an outside long-term outside back may see them overstocked if Ramsey makes a successful return to the sport in 2024.
A lot will hinge on the result of recent operations. Over the past couple of months, sections of Ramsey’s large intestine have been cut out. He still has to undergo one more surgery before finding out if the medical advice against playing rugby league will extend beyond the end of this season.
Meanwhile, the NRL has suspended Dragons forward Francis Molo after he pleaded guilty to stalking/intimidating a woman with intent to cause fear of physical or mental harm at his home near Wollongong during the off-season.
The integrity unit reviewed the matter after the Maroons forward pleaded guilty in court and will require him to serve two games on the sidelines, as well as pay a $15,000 fine, $5000 of which will be suspended for 18 months pending any further incidents.
The NRL served Molo with a breach notice for the proposed sanction on Thursday and the player has five days to respond. NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo had the discretion to sideline Molo under the NRL’s no-fault stand-down policy before the matter is finalised in court, even though the incident didn’t meet the threshold for him being automatically banned. The sanction finalises an incident that occurred eight days before Christmas.
Molo will serve the new ban after completing his current one; he must first complete a three-week ban for a grade-two careless high tackle during a win over the Titans earlier this month. He has one match to serve on his challenge on Moeaki Fotuaika, meaning he won’t be able to play again until the round 12 clash against the Roosters.
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