Three clubs have received fines after the NRL found out players trained despite their contracts not being approved.

It has been two years since a club was fined for breaches of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

In 2024, the St George Illawarra Dragons were fined $40,000 after allowing Ronald Volkman to train with the club, even though the contract was not registered by the NRL.

Volkman suffered a season-ending injury around that time, and his former club, the New Zealand Warriors, paid for his medical expenses.

According to News Corp, the Melbourne Storm, New Zealand Warriors and the Manly Sea Eagles were fined $30,000 for the slip-up.

The fines were handed out because the NRL did not officially approve and finalise the contracts players signed.

As punishment, the $30,000 fines will be counted against each club's training week allowance.

Melbourne received the sanction for a one-year extension for now-retired front-rower Tui Kamikamica.

The 32-year-old had signed the contract to play and had trained with the club.

However, his paperwork never reached the NRL because the Storm's administrative staff were on Christmas holidays.

Although Melbourne fought the sanction, which went nowhere, they asked the NRL whether they could instead pay an equivalent fine instead of surrendering training weeks.

The argument centred around the premise that it would impact their lesser-known players.

Manly also found themselves in the NRL's sights for a "breach of obligations relating to negotiations with agents".

This predates the club's new management and occurred when the club attempted to sign a young player.

The club was shocked to receive the sanction almost two years after the breach occurred.

Manly also received a punishment to include the amount in the club's training wage for the 2026 and 2027 seasons.

“The matters are technical in nature and date back to 2024,” a Manly spokesman told News Corp.

“So it was surprising to see them pursued some 22 months later. We put forward our position on the matters, which were ultimately dismissed.

“We respectfully believe there are opportunities to improve the process for dealing with these issues and look forward to discussing those constructively with Peter V'landys at the appropriate time.”

New Zealand's punishment, along with the fine, included the amount in the club's training wages for the 2027 season.