Hull FC Chairman Adam Pearson has admitted that he is keeping a close eye on the spending levels of rival Super League club Salford Devils after they missed out on another high profile signing to Marwan Koukash’s ambitious outfit.
The Airlie Birds had long been linked with a move for former Hull KR man Michael Dobson, but after the half-back was announced as a signing for Salford in 2015, Pearson is beginning to question how long the Devils can sustain such spending levels under the salary cap.
Pearson admitted that he put in a huge offer for Dobson, the second time in recent years that the Airlie Birds have courted the Australian, but the 28-year-old will now link-up with another long-time Black and Whites target, Rangi Chase, at the AJ Bell Stadium.
“We put in a huge offer to Dobson and we would have really liked him to come here because he is exactly the kind of player, and the right kind of kicking game that we wanted, which is what we have missed,” Pearson said on hullfc.com.
“He’s gone to Salford and we will see where that takes him, we’ll see if he gets a pass off Rangi Chase next year. They have probably got £600k wrapped up in them half-backs and another £300k in two outside-backs so it is going to be interesting to see how they squeeze all that in to the cap.
“We are looking at it really closely. If you have got £900k wrapped up in six or seven players then that leaves you with £1m for 20… so how does that work? It’ll be interesting to see how that unfurls, we are a club that spends just above cap every year with our allowances and I know now that Wigan and Leeds are well below them so we have got some management of our cap to do and that’s where Motu [Tony] has got to do some work in the summer.
“But to keep accumulating £200k players in one squad just doesn’t add up, so at some point there needs to be some questions asked.”
The Airlie Birds are currently looking to recruit a new Financial Controller at the KC Stadium and some have been cheeky enough to suggest that perhaps Pearson could focus his attentions on swooping for Salford’s finance man, as he is clearly a man with considerable talents when it comes to balancing the books.
Meanwhile, Catalans’ Scott Dureau is the latest half-back to be linked with a move to Hull FC. The former Albert Goldthorpe Medal winner has endured a torrid time with injuries of late and has been replaced in the Catalans line-up by recent NRL recruit Sam Williams. But with Gareth Carvell’s move to Castleford, some have suggested that Lee Radford may be making some space on the salary cap to bring in some new blood.
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