NRL 2022: Andrew Abdo dismisses talk of an impending pay war with player union

Players are in dark over what they will be paid next season and there is a sense of urgency as salary cap talks ramp up.

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo has played down talk the code is on the brink of another civil war as he prepares to ramp up negotiations with the players union over the salary cap.

Players are in dark over what they will be paid next season and there is a sense of urgency where the union is concerned around the negotiations now that the NRL has finalised its billion-dollar broadcasting deal for the next five years.

Pay talks between the NRL and their players have traditionally been volatile affairs and there is a private view among many in the game that dissent is inevitable.

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It means the coming months could prove challenging for Abdo and ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys as they attempt to appease a playing group who have endured pay cuts over the past two seasons to help the game through the Covid crisis.

Those same players have no doubt watched on with interest in recent months as the code has trumpeted a record broadcasting deal, which is likely to be supplemented before the start of the season when the game extends its naming rights agreement with Telstra.

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo. Picture: Christian Gilles

In a warning shot across the NRL’s bow, News Corp understands the union has asked to be given access to the game’s finances, which were rubber-stamped by the ARL Commission on Monday.

Abdo and his Rugby League players Association counterpart Clint Newton will be the men in the hotseat, charged with striking a deal that is expected to make the players richer than at any point in the game’s history.

“You never start expecting or looking for a stink,” Abdo said on Thursday at a joint press conference with premier Dominic Perrotet to announce that there would be pop-up vaccination clinics at Saturday night’s All Stars game.

“When we work together — all of us inside the game — we can get amazing results. As a result we have led in a number of different areas. We talk to the players and the players’ association often; the discussions will always be robust but they will be respectful.

“That’s been my experience so far and I expect that to continue.”

Head of the Rugby League Players Association Clint Newton. Picture: AAP Image/James Gourley

Newton added: “I will always start any type of negotiation with a healthy level of optimism. Our position will be clear.

“We want to create very clear separation from ourselves and every other code in this region by having the best terms and conditions for NRL and NRLW players.

“It is really pretty simple. Given Peter and Andrew’s competitive nature, you would have to suggest they would be very much aligned with us.

“When you take into account the invaluable and essential contribution players can make, I don’t see why that shouldn’t be our No.1 focus.

“By securing the best terms and conditions in our region, there can be no mistaking that rugby league for men and women in this country will be the sport of choice.”

Prior to the Covid pay cuts, the salary cap was scheduled to be $10 million this season with additional allowances for veteran players and the development list.

That figure is expected to be the starting point for negotiations over the cap for 2023. Abdo, however, insisted it was important to balance the interests of the players with the need to propagate the game and ring-fence the code’s financial future by investing in assets.

The ARL Commission has raised the prospect of investing in its own stadium or buying a share of Super League. The players will be at the front of the queue, jostling with the clubs for their share of rugby league’s rivers of gold.

“We have worked really hard on stabilising revenue, we have worked really hard on making sure we are more efficient at head office,” Abdo said.

“So any surplus we have is there to reinvest back into the game. A couple of points on that — Covid has been a big investment for us. We are not out of the woods yet. You need to plan for the future and you can’t just think about the next year or the next five years.

“You need to think long term.”

Originally published as NRL 2022: Andrew Abdo dismisses talk of an impending pay war with player union