Rugby League Players Association and NRL square off over crucial Collective Bargaining Agreement
The RLPA has turned up the heat on the NRL as they try to determine whether the players should be reimbursed for pays cuts over the past three years, while NRLW players push to shape their first CBA.
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The players union has fired the first shot across the bow of the NRL by requesting historical financial records along with key details of future budget forecasts as they look to determine whether the players should be reimbursed for pay cuts over the past three years.
This comes as some of the game’s NRLW stars held their first player advisory meeting last Wednesday as they push to secure the women’s first collective bargaining agreement.
News Corp understands that the NRL has agreed to supply further information after the Rugby League Players Association vented their frustration at the slow progress of talks with head office.
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The union first requested financial details last November but head office has taken its time to come to the party, finally guaranteeing they would provide the documentation ahead of a meeting next Wednesday involving the union, key male and female players, and the NRL.
While the future forecasts will determine the salary cap and other big ticket items from next season, the union wants to make sure the players haven’t been caught short over the past three years, when they agreed to pay cuts because of Covid-19.
The players effectively took 20 per cent pay cuts in 2020 as well as a further six per cent in 2021 and 2022. The players also agreed to forgo money from the injury hardship fund and representative football – Origin payments were significantly sliced – to provide the game with a financial buffer.
Those savings helped the NRL navigate their way through the Covid interruption.
However, the NRL and the vast majority of the clubs have announced bumper profits since then, prompting the RLPA to seek financial information for the past three seasons to see whether the players should be reimbursed some of the money they sacrificed.
It shapes as the first sign of argy-bargy between the sides as they prepare to ramp up negotiations over the collective bargaining agreement for the next five years. At the heart of the discussions will be the salary cap, which was due to be around $10 million this season before the cuts.
The central players in the negotiations are expected to meet next week, where history will be created when both the men and the women will be involved in CBA talks for the first time.
Discussions around the women’s game will also take centre stage.
With the NRLW continuing its rapid rise, the players want clarity on a range of issues including; contracting model and minimum salaries, injury treatment, insurance, road map to professionalism and a greater understanding of expansion.
NRLW star and RLPA board member Hannah Southwell said the negotiations would shape how the women’s game would look long-term.
“This will set the tone for the next 10, 20, 30 years,” Southwell said.
“We want to make sure we get it right. We want to make sure the future generations are taken care of. We want to make sure our needs are met and listened to. We want to make sure the players have really been listened to.
“We saw the AFLW just announce a 90 per cent increase (in player payments). The game is growing, we’re putting in a lot of effort to grow the game on and off the field.”
The NRL has brought in former Nine Network chief executive Hugh Marks to negotiate on their behalf with the players. He was seen last week at Magic Round in Brisbane and it is understood talks have continued while he has been on a recent holiday.
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