“Players are UNITED. We will continue fighting for what is fair."
That is the message which was plastered onto multiple NRL and NRL women's players' Instagram and Twitter accounts alongside a blue screen on Thursday evening as the stoush between the NRL and Rugby League Players Association over the future of the collective bargaining agreement reaches something of a breaking point.
LATEST - @NRL & @NRLWomens players show their unity with posts across social media as stand-off between players (@RLPlayers) & the game’s governing body over the new CBA intensifies @9NewsSyd @NRLonNine #9News pic.twitter.com/ZWEmHU9afs
— Zac Bailey (@ZacBailey14) January 19, 2023
Their message comes as threats of a strike continue to not be ruled out.
Money is one one issue of the collective bargaining agreement negotiations, with players frustrated over multiple issues, including the use of a post-season trade window which the NRL have backed down gradually on, the players having more of a voice in the game and other sticking points.
Part of the proposal over the new post-season trade window was players being able to sign with rival clubs for the following year from June 30.
In the current system, players can sign a deal for the 2025 season from November 1, 2023.
The NRL reportedly originally proposed that players could negotiate with clubs after the 2024 grand final. As a result, this would leave a period of four months instead of 15, for finalisation of deals with rival clubs.
According to the RLPA, this puts players' careers at risk if they suffer an injury during the season.
NRL bosses have now proposed a new date, with players able to sign with rival clubs from July 2024 for the 2025 NRL season.
Reportedly a mid-season transfer window from Round 10 until the end of State of Origin is also being negotiated as part of the new CBA.
Members of the RLPA have been vocal in response to the CBA negotiations with several NRL clubs refusing to participate in NRL promotional work until the issues have been resolved.
Kurt Capewell of the Brisbane Broncos is one player who has spoken out. Capewell has indicated he doesn't want this issue to boil over to a player strike.
“(The NRL) have belief if they wait it out long enough we're just going to have to sign (but) we're not going to stand here and cop it,” Capewell told AAP.
“We're ready to draw a line in the sand and we'll make a stand.”
“We don't want it to come to (a player strike) but if the NRL are going to sit on their heels and not budge, who knows where it's going to go?”
Capewell has been joined by the likes of Christian Welch, who is an RLPA board member, and Sharks veteran Wade Graham, while those who haven't made public comment joined in the protest on social media.
The NRL and RLPA have been at the negotiating table for over 12 months, but with no new deal and pre-season trials less than a month away, time is ticking to stop what could be Australian sport's first ever lockout.
Difficult to know which body looks the worse: the NRL with PVL changing the rules on a whim (this week it is November 1 becoming June 30), or the RLPA which provides no details of the sticking points, but just acts like an old style trade union – demanding and threatening.