A salary cap of A$9.59M ($7.3M) has been proposed by the National Rugby League for next season but "pay talks are set to drag on, with players' demands for a guaranteed share of revenue not being delivered in the governing body's financial offer for the next five years," according to Chris Barrett of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Cronulla's James Maloney, Chad Townsend and Wade Graham, as well as South Sydney's George Burgess, joined Rugby League Players Association CEO Ian Prendergast in "being presented with the NRL's pay proposal on Thursday." They "left underwhelmed" despite the NRL's negotiating team laying out what would be "significant increases in player salaries over the course of the next collective bargaining agreement." The cap, which is currently A$7M ($5.4M), would rise to A$9.59M next season and be "lifted incrementally for the remainder of the deal" to average out at A$10M ($7.6M) over the five years. There are also upwards of A$5M ($3.8M) in representative payments from '18-22. The players and the administration "remain on different pages, however, when it comes to fixed revenue share." Next season's proposed cap figure represents 26% of the game's revenue but "players demands for a fixed share of that total" -- an objective Maloney this week described as "essential" -- have not been met in the NRL offer (SMH, 3/30).
