VV...
Appreciate what you're saying VV but I just don't think we can continue to black list every player that plays at Sarries. Did the club cheat, yes... Did the players know, more than likely... To what extent the club cheated, we cannot say that!
What is clear is that all clubs utilise 'loop holes' in the salary cap rules. eg, the Sharples going out on loan to exempt his salary, but didn't, saga. I'm not condoning Sarries for their actions as they were far in excess of any other club and clearly and blatantly disregarded the rules. However, should players not have gone there to earn a living and have a shot at trophies? Should a player now not be touched because they play/played at sarries? If a player was paid fairly by sarries and within the rules, why should they be punished if other players at the club were not?
Would I want a sarries player on loan? Probably not as I agree, we want a player to buy into our club. However, I don't think loans of sarries players should be banned. I also don't think it's letting Sarries off the hook, it's gaining a decent player for next season to help your club have a crack at silverware for a season.
On your final point, I bring things back around to Mark Wilson... why have Wilson and Sale not been critised for that loan deal?
BG...
How are the clubs assisting sarries 'wriggling out of the hole'? We don't know why the clubs are signing them. Perhaps clubs don't have the room in the cap as they have already mapped out their recruitment, so by loaning the players and splitting their salaries, are giving players a home for next season? We need to remember these are human beings earning a living.
It's not a way out of the predicament, Sarries will still have to adhere to the salary cap rules the season they come back. People are talking like the loanees will all go back in 18 months time and it will be business as usual, it wont be. Sarries have to trim down their wage bill to meet the cap and that will happen as they will be watched like a hawk. This is perhaps an iterative way of doing it. Perhaps sarries have a number of players with only 1 year left to run on their deals so will be retained for next season rather then paying the early release penalty (which would contribute to the cap and thus enforce Sarries to break the rules even more!) and the younger players who have multiple years on their deals will head out on loan for a year and come back to replace them…. Meaning no one is out of a job next season and Sarries stand a better chance at meeting the salary cap regulations both next season and the one after.
We should consider also that players like life at Sarries and the environment it has, so want to remain at the club long term (within the rules), so as a way of doing that, go out on loan to help the club restructure and come back to a squad that adheres to the rules.
As much as I hate that it's happened and cannot stand Sarries as a club, I think we need to get over it now and just move on. Sarries are going down and will have to adjust to a different premiership life when the come back up, in whatever capacity their squad is in in 18 months time.