NRL officials are prepared to go on strike for round one next season in response to drawn-out contract negotiations between the league and the referees' union.
The officials are seeking a 30 per cent increase in their salaries over the next four seasons. The deal would increase the salaries of top-tier referees to over $300,000 per season, in line with the average wage for a player ($371,000 per season).
Professional Rugby League Match Officials chairman Silvio Del Vecchio said the NRL have been combative during the negotiations.
“They’re moving in millimetres,” Del Vecchio told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“We continue to find the NRL extremely combative and unwilling to move in negotiations, caught up in minutia.”
ARL Commission chairman Peter Beattie earlier this year declared the game was on track to record $530 million in revenue and a profit between $50 to 55 million this year.
The referees' proposal equates to $2 million over four years. However the NRL is refusing to budge from their 24 per cent increase.
If negotiations continue to stagnate, the referees could remove the logo of sponsor Youi from the front and back of their uniform and boycott of training and next season's pre-season matches.
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