Ivan Cleary agreed to coach Penrith from '19 despite having two years left on his Wests Tigers deal.GETTY IMAGES
The National Rugby League "will explore introducing strict anti-poaching rules to ensure there is no repeat of the coaching merry-go-round farce that has plagued rugby league in recent months," according to Dean Ritchie of the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. NRL CEOs during a conference in Sydney on Tuesday will reportedly discuss "implementing new rules preventing coaches signing with another club more than a year before coming off contract, or else they face serious penalty." Under the proposal, coaches who break the rules would face suspensions, while clubs found guilty of breaches would be "heavily fined." It would "avoid the fiasco which has unfolded in recent months" after Ivan Cleary signed with Penrith despite having two years remaining on his Wests Tigers deal. Under NRL rules, players cannot be formally signed or registered until they move inside the final year of their existing contract. The push will be for coaches to operate under the same Nov. 1 deadline. NRL CEOs will discuss "a raft of measures to prevent the coaching merry-go-round which damaged rugby league's integrity this year." Canberra CEO Don Furner said, "We will probably need to look at some restrictions on poaching" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 11/12).
