Players "are on a collision course" with the National Rugby League "over their share of the game's revenue and may again boycott the Dally M awards in grand final week," according to Brad Walter of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD.
The Rugby League Players Association "has been in discussions with the NRL about the game's financial position for several months and is understood to have been told that the game cannot afford to meet their demands."
However, with the NRL earlier this season trumpeting a A$50M surplus for the last financial year, and Channel Nine having agreed to pay another A$50M ($35M) up front as part of the new A$925M free-to-air television deal beginning in '18, players believe they "are entitled to a share of that money." The players insist they "are not seeking an increase in the salary cap, but want the NRL to contribute more to retirement funds and education and welfare costs." While the five-year collective bargaining agreement between the RLPA and the NRL "isn't due to expire until 2017, there is a provision for the two parties to 'jointly undertake a review of the profitability of the game with a view to ascertaining whether payments and/or allowances can be increased.'"
The NRL has countered the RLPA's claim by saying that spending on the game "has also increased" and pointed to predicted A$40M in losses by clubs this season "as evidence of why they can't accommodate their demands" (SMH, 9/9). Also in Sydney, Phil Rothfield reported players will break their silence Thursday in a "full-scale revolt to reveal their frustrations at the prolonged collective bargaining agreement review." The dispute centers on three key issues, which are:
- abolishing five-day turnarounds between games;
- increasing off-season annual leave from six to eight weeks; and
- maintaining the same share of the game's revenue.
While the NRL’s revenue "has risen substantially in the past two years, the players’ share of the profits has not increased." One senior player said, "These talks have gone on for too long now and it’s long overdue for the NRL to do something about it. It’s not a matter of greed, it’s more about setting a pathway for players to make careers out of their profession" (
DAILY TELEGRAPH, 9/10)
