The NRL is set to undergo a "well overdue and comprehensive" review of its salary cap in moves chief executive Dave Smith hopes will keep Sydney Roosters superstar Sonny Bill Williams in the game - and help lure the likes of Wallabies star Israel Folau.
Smith met with club chief executives on Wednesday to discuss changes to the salary cap, which included a proposal of a marquee player allowance which could be paid outside the traditional salary cap to help retain the game's biggest stars.
Williams, who rejoined the NRL this season after a stint in Super Rugby, is on a one-year deal with the Sydney Roosters and has yet to formally announce his plans beyond this season.
But Smith says it is imperative to keep the game's biggest stars in rugby league - and he believes the salary cap overhaul, which he expects to take four months to complete, will do the trick.
"(The salary cap) hasn't been reviewed for 15 years and the world's moved on," Smith told NRL 360 on Fox Sports on Wednesday.
"We are in a competitive market for players and we want to make sure we do attract the likes of the Sonny Bills and the Folaus, and once we attract them we want to make sure we can keep them.
"I think you need the flexibility within the system and that's why I want to do a comprehensive review.
"That's the reason. It's well overdue.
"It's a comprehensive review. I'm not just going to lift the covers and scrape the surface.
"You may or may not change a lot of things.
"There's a real reason for maintaining a competitive environment, but fundamentally it hasn't been looked at for 15 years. We need to recognise that we are in a competitive market for players.
"We want them in the comp (and) we want to keep them in the comp."
Smith said he wants to analyse the salary caps of the world's major sporting codes in a bid to find the best formula, and noted examples from European soccer which had already caught his eye.
"The English Premier League ... they don't have a cap at all on any player under 21 who is home grown. I quite like that idea as a concept," he said.
"...There's a variety of systems and that's without even going into the US. I want to look at all of them.
"The fact of the matter is ours is a unique sport, so there'll be a unique set of circumstances.
"I think you'll probably end up with a composite. You've got to recognise what we've got.
"I'm not suggesting for a second that it's completely broken. I'm just saying 'let's modernise it, let's move forward'."
Williams' club coach, Trent Robinson, said the idea of a marquee player allowance appealed to him.
"I personally think it's a good idea ... We need to have something that's going to top other sports in our area," he said.
Smith also revealed the code would be looking closely at State of Origin scheduling to see if there was any way to lessen the impact the three-game series has on some of the most heavily represented clubs.
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