It's official.

St. George center Mark Gasnier is leaving the NRL, and will take up a two year contract with Stade Francais - a French rugby union club.

Gasnier is set to earn about 1 million dollars a year in France, and with the problems he's been having with his current contract, you can hardly blame him for making the switch.

Gasnier has stated that his reason for leaving is based on his current contract not being fully honoured. He is owed money from third-party sponsors, and has not received the full payments.

With the current NRL salary caps, high profile players like Gasnier are looking to third-parties to increase their wages - but when these parties don't fulfill their obligations, there are massive consequences for the game.

The NRL's salary cap means they are struggling to match the money on offer from rugby union and the Super League, and it seems there is no immediate solution to the problem.

By raising the salary cap, you put a lot of clubs under financial pressure - and that could see the end of some of the current NRL clubs, which definitely isn't in the best interest of the game.

The only real solution is for the NRL to allow players to receive sponsorship from outside sources, which they are currently unable to do. This has been a major issue with Sonny Bill Williams, who has been unable to make [a lot] more money doing sponsorship deals.

The NRL board need to wake up and allow these sort of deals to take place, especially if they want to keep the top players in the game.

It's a real shame to see Gasnier leave the NRL. He's one of the true greats of the modern era, and we just hope his exit doesn't start a trend...