The NRL, Australian Rugby League Commission and Rugby League Players Association's long-running stand-off appears to be approaching its bitter end, with a new deal tabled by the NRL.
With pre-season trials underway and threats ongoing around players either striking or taking some form of protest action, it now appears those threats are slowly being taken off the table.
The collective bargaining agreement, which was originally supposed to be agreed upon by last October, has been something of a stain on the game in the last four months, with the warring parties unable to agree on the future finances of the game.
It has seen teams take action over pre-season promotional media, and at one stage a threat to cover up NRL logos or delay kick-off in pre-season games had been put on the table, although it never materialised.
The key sticking points over the deal continued to be the women's game, as well as the injury hardship fund for players post-retirement. It had been revealed that, under the previous agreement, the RLPA had no control over their own funds, and players were only covered for 12 months after their retirement to receive all the treatment they needed.
Andrew Fifita, who hung up the boots at the end of 2022 following a long and glowing career, revealed he needed to have six procedures in the space of 12 months.
Negotiations, which have been ongoing, finally appear to have brought with them a successful result though.
Just days after the women's CBA was finally agreed upon, the men's game is now tipped to have an answer in the next two weeks, with News Corp reporting substantial progress has been made.
It's understood a $1.347 billion deal is on the table, with the next 48 hours to prove critical as head of the RLPA Clint Newton and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo to continue their high-level talks.
As part of the deal, it's understood the average NRL salary will climb to a tick over $400,000 per player, while the minimum wage will be $120,000 this season, and rise to $140,000 by 2027.
Of potentially more importance, $115 million has been pledged to player benefits and hardship funds, with the two parties deliberating the final details of the agreement.
It would appear that the upgraded and beefed up deal will likely see a completion before Round 1, allowing the NRL to ward off the threat of strike action which has been lingering over the game in the last month.
Multiple players have refused to rule out the idea that pre-season or regular season games could be impacted if the deal didn't get across the line, with it impacting teams during the pre-season heavily.
Most clubs have been unable to fill their roster as they awaited the final salary cap figure for 2023 - the NRL attempted to announce a revised salary cap for both the men's and women's game in December, only to be shut down by the RLPA who were furious at the announcement prior to an agreed CBA between the two parties.
It has meant multiple players have also had to take up train and trial deals with clubs to train with insurance, while the women's game, who operate without multi-year contracts, have had to train without insurance.
Both Matt Lodge and Cooper Johns are expected to be among the first players officially signed to Top 30 deals once the agreement is signed, with the duo on and train and trial deals over the summer at the Sydney Roosters and Manly Sea Eagles respectively.
The NRL season is due to kick-off on Thursday, March 2 as the Parramatta Eels face the Melbourne Storm at CommBank Stadium.
