As negotiations remain at a standstill between the NRL, clubs and the RLPA, ARLC Chair Peter V'Landys has hit back at suggestions the NRL is hiding their finances from the other parties.
The increasingly-heated situation between the parties came to a head this week with suggestions from some club CEO's about the possibility of a breakaway league akin to the 1997 Super League, to get away from the NRL โdictatorship'.
โIt's crap,โ V'Landys told the Daily Telegraph.
โThe figures are always released to the clubs, they've had them for months.
โIt's all rubbish, all falsehoods. Most of the stuff the RLPA is saying is false because Andrew Abdo has given them the figures. We have no interest in hiding anything."
READ: Harry Grant accuses NRL of 'low-balling' pay negotiations.
It's believed that under the current proposal the salary cap will rise to at least $11 million next season, and clubs will also receive a number of โabove the cap' grants totalling an extra $85 million between clubs.
V'Landys also responded to suggestions the NRL has refused to disclose revenues from headline events including Magic Round and State of Origin.
โWe negotiated an extra $38 million to the players because we supplied the figures to the clubs and (Channel 9 boss) Hugh Marks had also given them the figures.
โThe clubs and players will be better off than ever under our proposal. They have never been in a better position, instead of claims they are better off being on the tools," he said.
โI don't see too many carpenters earning $500,000 a year.
โWe've opened the books to the clubs โ what more do they want?
โThey want to see what we made on Magic Round and the Grand Final โ realistically, it's irrelevant.
โWhat is the point of getting one element of 100 financial items? They'll be getting a share of the whole pie, not just once piece.
โThey want to suggest to fans that we are hiding the figures. I can assure the fans right now that we are not.
โOnce the players actually see the offer and how they have been misled, they'll realise how attractive our deal is for them.โ
RLPA boss Clint Newton, who recently visited the Kangaroos in camp to advise them of the situation, still has fears surrounding the process.
โThe NRL might not like it, but we have a responsibility to be transparent with the fans' players and heroes, talk about our claims, negotiate and get a deal done that respects the players' contribution to generating the revenues we all benefit from and growing and promoting the game,โ Newton said.
โIs it not our job to continually advocate for improvements for our past, current and future players? Or should we rely on the NRL and ARLC to do that too? Wouldn't that be a conflict of interest?
โIt's disrespectful to the players to dismiss how important this is for them.โ
