The Rugby League World Cup could be thrown into chaos over pay issues after it was revealed that the current payment deal only covers Kangaroos and Jillaroos players until October 31.
This means it will expire after the group stages but before the beginning of the knock-out phase of the men's tournament, and before a ball has even been kicked in the women's competition.
The problems have been brought to light by the subsequent postponement of the tournament, which was originally supposed to be held in 2021.
As it stands, the Daily Telegraph reports that the NRL believe that this delay means the current deal should stay in place for the duration of the tournament – but the player’s union say otherwise.
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Parties have been locked in ongoing discussions about the pay deal in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement for weeks, although the Telegraph suggests that some terms were ready to be discussed and that the NRL were confident they could secure an arrangement that would cover the next five years’ salaries for both NRL and NRLW players.
“At this point, there is no agreement in place past October 31,” RLPA chief executive Clint Newton told the Telegraph.
“This affects the terms and conditions and remunerations of players who will play for their nations during November’s World Cup.
“The World Cup hasn’t snuck up on us, it’s been in the calendar for years and was meant to be played last year. This is one of the many reasons we pushed to start negotiating and reach an agreement for our players earlier.
“This isn’t about a pay dispute. This is simply about having a clear understanding of the terms and conditions and payments that are connected to being employed to represent your nation.
“Is that not a fair expectation?
“The lack of understanding impacts women more than the men as the vast majority of them will have to take time off from work, which is their primary income, to travel and play.
“I’d imagine understanding how you’ll pay your bills and provide for your family is a fair and reasonable request.”
The union is also calling for uniform payments for players from Australia and Pacific nations in official internationals, a move than has been backed by NRL clubs including South Sydney.
“NRL clubs are the biggest investors in international rugby league,” South Sydney chairman Blake Solly told the Telegraph.
“We absorb the salary and injury risk for players with no compensation. It’s something we’re happy to do because we see all the opportunities and benefits of a robust international competition.
“The ARLC also subsidises the Kangaroos programs from revenue generated by the club competition. By their own admission, international matches are loss-leading for the ARLC.
“If they’re going to use NRL club competition revenues to subsidise international programs, it’s probably time to consider why the Kangaroos are the only beneficiary of that subsidy.”
I agree that the idea of entering the competition with a pay deal that expires mid-way through is ridiculous.
The obvious solution is for the NRL to say: “We are unlikely to get the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Players Association agreed in time, so here is what we propose
1) whatever we eventually agree, will run from 1 Nov.
2) until the CBA is agreed, the World Cup will be under the existing CBA
3) once the CBA is agreed, the terms will be retrospectively applied to the World Cup from 1 Nov.
4) No-one will be worse off: if the new CBA includes (say), the same payments for all Australian/NZ/Pacifica players, then the island players will get the higher payments, and the Australian/NZ players will not have to pay back any higher fees that they have received during the World Cup. ”
If Clint Newton is not prepared to accept that, then the national boards should go over the RLPA and put that straight to the teams involved, for their agreement.
The World Cup cannot be held to ransom by the RLPA demanding that _everything_ be agreed before the World Cup can proceed. Maybe the CBA could/should have been sorted out earlier, but we are where we are.