Barba on top of agenda as league meets Bulldogs chief Under review: a "Barba clause" is a possibility if the Bulldogs let the player go to Brisbane. Canterbury chief executive Raelene Castle visited NRL headquarters on Thursday to discuss conditional releases and other options open to the Bulldogs as they try to resolve the Ben Barba issue. As revealed by Fairfax Media, the Bulldogs have the power to prevent Barba from playing against them for the next two years as part of a non-compete clause in his release agreement. Canterbury exercised a similar option when Sonny Bill Williams departed one year into a five-year deal, preventing him from joining a rival NRL outfit until his Bulldogs contract lapsed. It's understood NRL officials floated, as part of attempts to keep Benji Marshall in the game, the prospect of registering a contract that would prevent him from playing against Wests Tigers. However, he opted to switch to Super Rugby franchise Auckland Blues. Castle met ARL Commission officials and also discussed the salary cap, contracting and other registration issues. She confirmed the "Barba clause" was one of many the club was reviewing. "Ideas like that are some of the things we are discussing," Castle said. They form part of the jigsaw puzzle I keep talking about. The NRL is reviewing the salary cap and contract system, although it is unlikely changes will be enacted in time to benefit the Bulldogs in the Barba case. Barba, who wants to move to Queensland to reconcile with his partner Ainslie Currie, is likely to know his fate after a Bulldogs board meeting next week. The issue of compassionate releases and player sackings has come to the fore, with Barba and Canberra duo Blake Ferguson and Anthony Milford looking to leave. Speaking in general terms, Castle said it was important the NRL take a lead role in resolving contract disputes and transfers, rather than leaving it to the clubs. "I'd be very much a fan of them reviewing the players' responsibility, financial responsibility in all of this and, in particular, the player managers as well," she said. At the moment all of the responsibility is risk and reward for the club and I'm not sure that's a fair reflection of society. It's not how the real world works. If you worked in a real-world business environment, you had a two-year contract and you walked away from that, the employer would be sitting there asking you for some compensation. Castle also discussed the issue of player misbehaviour, particularly instances when stars played up in the hope they would be sacked, only to be picked up by a rival. However, the former Netball New Zealand boss conceded clubs also needed to show a level of compassion in certain cases and hoped the ARLC would review the range of scenarios being played out in clubland. "There are genuine cases of family situations and for every one that isn't 100 per cent legitimate, there will be one that is," she said. You don't want to penalise the people with legitimate concerns. I do think when you build the roster, it's a complicated jigsaw puzzle and you often build it around the marquee player or group of players.