Players’ association chief Damien Fitzpatrick says now a great opportunity to get everything right

The players are itching to get back on the paddock, but first the players’ association wants a “war cabinet” to brainstorm revised competition structures to revive rugby so the players’ 60 per cent pay cut counts.

Rugby is planning a more conservative reboot but joke that rugby league can build them a second field on “Fantasy Island” just in case a May miracle is possible.

No games until July is the sketch that rugby insiders are working with for a purely domestic competition.

Rugby Union Players’ Association president Damien Fitzpatrick, the NSW Waratahs hooker, said the code’s players were itching to get back on the field.

“We’ve asked them (the NRL) to build a second oval on Fantasy Island with them … we want to be playing on May 28 as well,” Fitzpatrick said.

Stream over 50 sports on-demand with KAYO SPORTS on your TV, computer, mobile or tablet. Just $25/month, no lock-in contract. Get your 14-day free trial and start streaming instantly >

“I don’t know where they’re planning on playing but our guys are itching to play.”

Fitzpatrick has endorsed a “war cabinet” to brainstorm revised competition structures to revive rugby so their 60 per cent pay cut counts.

The RUPA front man said the hard-won transparency on Rugby Australia's full financial situation in the pay deal talks had to be replicated on a broader front so key calls on competitions were not made in a “vacuum of information”.

Super Rugby's move to a 14-team round-robin format across four countries next year can't be set in stone simply because travel and border restrictions may not allow it.

Damien Fitzpatrick says everything needs to be on the table to get the best outcome.

“The (health) situation has shown that right now anything is possible (because) I can tell you one thing if the airports are not going to open it's going to be difficult to run that comp,” Fitzpatrick said.

“Everything would be on the table to get the best result and best product out there for the fans … whether it's a domestic competition or Super Rugby or trans-Tasman.

“Right now is the perfect time to have a really strong look at the structure of our second-tier provincial competition (this year and next).”

RUPA won a seat at the table to discuss “transformation” for the game in Monday's pay deal agreement and 11 former Wallabies’ captains signed a jolting save-the-code letter on Tuesday to get buy-in.

The NSW Waratahs hooker was upbeat that the best ideas from the country's 192 professional players would play a creative role.

“The captains have suggested a committee to report back to the game and I would endorse that because, to have a group of people invested in the game, who understand the challenges we face, can’t be a bad thing right now,” Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick said the complexity of the pay cut talks had prolonged them with the government's JobKeeper benefit and RA's annual general meeting happening in the middle of negotiations.

“Do I wish it went far quicker? Yes I do, definitely, but everything seemed to just be a result of a very, very high level of complexity and making sure we had all the information,” he said.

“Look, it's not an amazing result, a 60 per cent cut, and it's tough to stomach for a lot of players. We've now got a job to do as an organisation to make sure our players are able to cope.

“We would have loved to have known that the company you work for has huge amounts of cash reserves but that wasn't the case and we knew that.”

The NSW Waratahs hooker was upbeat that the best ideas from the country's 192 professional players would play a creative role because they will be less in the dark.

“There are some really clever guys in there who I think will be able to shed light on something like a competition restructure,” Fitzpatrick said.

“There have been times, and there may be reasons for it or not, I felt we've worked in silos in this sport and there has been a vacuum of information and to progress that couldn't continue.

“Transparency is going to be a key and we'll stick to that (because) once we did get transparency (on RA's finances in the pay talks) it allowed for, I wouldn’t call a smooth process, but a sped-up process.”

Fitzpatrick was asked whether the player body had faith in RA chief executive Raelene Castle and her besieged administration to deliver the changes needed.

“The conversation has gone past there. Whatever happens from the administration from above, that's out of our hands, but we want to make sure if change is to happen that the players play a significant role,” Fitzpatrick said.

MORE RUGBY

CATALYST: RUGBY AUSTRALIA’S FAILURE TO CONNECT WITH GRASSROOTS