Castleford agree compensation with Sale over Denny Solomona signing
Castleford believe their victory in the Denny Solomona case will set a precedent that will prevent players walking away from their contracts in the future.
The Super League leaders say they have agreed compensation in excess of £200,000 with Solomona, his agent Andy Clarke and Premiership club Sale over the Sharks' signing of the prolific winger.
The Tigers, who were demanding £500,000 in compensation, say they will also receive approximately £100,000 in legal costs, with Sale having to foot the bill for their own costs after the matter, which was due to go to trial at the end of the year, was settled out of court.
Solomona, who is currently on tour with England in Argentina, walked out on Castleford at the end of last season despite having two years left on his contract and subsequently signed a three-year deal with Sale.
Castleford chief executive Steve Gill said: "This has been a difficult few months for the club. It would have been very easy to walk away and put all of this down to experience but Castleford Tigers is not a selling club any more.
"The approach from Sale was not welcome. We made our position clear but we have no control over the fact that Solomona was going to walk out on his contract.
"We believe lessons have now been learnt and we hope if this was to happen again rugby union clubs would respect the fact that the league players who are under contract cannot be enticed away without fear of financial penalties."
The outcome was welcomed by the Rugby Football League, with chief executive Nigel Wood claiming the club had done the game a great service, and Castleford's solicitor Richard Cramer says the Tigers' victory should be seen as a test case.
"Castleford throughout the whole process have endeavoured to maintain the highest level of professionalism in the face of the challenges of losing (unexpectedly) one of their top players.and having to take pro-active steps to seek redress and discover the truth what happened given the unprecedented and unfortunate set of circumstances they faced," Cramer said.
"There has been various commentaries about this being the new Bosman Case but, given the overall outcome, any idea of the floodgates opening have been well and truly shut.
"The legal process has proved that players' contracts are watertight and, if rugby union clubs do wish to recruit rugby league contracted players, then there is a price to pay."
Castleford say they are disappointed not to receive an apology from Sale but are now ready to move on and will use the £200,000 to complete the signing of full-back Zak Hardaker from Leeds. Greg Eden, the player signed to replace Solomona, is already well on the way to breaking his predecessor's 40 tries in a Super League season record with 30 in 16 appearances so far this year.
However, it may not quite be the end of the matter, however, as Press Association Sport understands the RFL still intends to bring a charge of misconduct against Clarke.
Sale were contacted for comment.
Solomona, who previously played for Melbourne and London Broncos, was called into the England rugby union squad after switching his allegiance and scoring 11 tries in 15 appearances for Sale.
The Auckland-born Solomona, who played for Samoa in the 13-man code last September, made his England debut in the first Test in San Juan last Saturday, scoring the winning try in the last minute with his first touch of the ball.