Anna Caldwell: NRL salary saga proves players are out of touch

League players will be offered a raise 10 times that of the average Aussie— so hearing a player whinge about pay as the cost of living bites everyday folk hits the wrong note, writes Anna Caldwell.

Not many people are getting pay rises in the current environment of economic gloom and cost of living pain.

Which makes it particularly curious to see a well-paid NRL player out and about complaining about their salary negotiations.

The bizarre comments from Melbourne Storm player Harry Grant would be the equivalent of a career train wreck if a politician made them.

Grant, speaking from the Kangaroos camp in England, accused the NRL of “low balling”.

“Some blokes are better off getting on the tools and doing whatever. At the end of the day you’re chasing a dream. I think a lot of people don’t realise what we put ourselves through,” he said.

Grant has a contract that will see him earning about $1 million a season by 2024. Not many blokes “on the tools” rake that in.

“For us as players, it’s our livelihood,” Grant said.

“We just need to get something sorted for everyone’s sake. We’ve put enough into this game, for what we get out of it they are low-balling us at the moment, the NRL”

Grant referenced development contracts which sit much lower but that doesn’t change the big picture, which is that, fundamentally, NRL players are paid very, very well.

And, side note, since when is a trade a job to be scoffed at?

Tradies, though, are aware of something this footy player wasn’t.

Harry Grant of Australia during Rugby League World Cup 2021. Picture: Michael Steele

In the current cost of living crisis, Sydneysiders and Aussies in general don’t look too fondly upon cashed up players whinging about their lot in life. It’s an utter disconnect.

Our league reporter Pete Badel reveals today that, in fact, the truth is NRL players have hit the jackpot.

The NRL has offered players a billion dollar deal – a 34 per cent increase in pay to $1.32 billion over the next five years, Badel reports.

Under the offer, the average men’s salary goes to $400,000, up from $325,000.

And the 2023 salary cap figure rises from $10.2 million to $12.5 million. Under the arrangements, the NRL women will get $115 million over the next five years with their own salary cap up 146 per cent.

Hard to see how this is low-balling.

The cost of living is hitting everyday Aussies hard.. Picture:Flavio Brancaleone

Contrast this to the real world, where private sector wages rose 2.7 per cent over the year to the June quarter in 2022. Public sector wages rose 2.4 per cent.

This means league players will be offered a raise 10 times that of the average Aussie.

The bigger issue here is disconnection.

Yes individuals always have a right to fight for more money.

But the NRL is meant to be the sport of the people. Chairman Peter V’landys has fought hard to invigorate the grass roots element of the sport – suburban grounds, family games and community cheer.

That’s often the stuff which, for NRL players and top brass, gives them the most pride in the game.

Hearing a young player like Grant roll in and whinge about salary at a time when the cost of living is biting every day folk and mortgage costs are climbing hits the wrong note.

It was an unsophisticated tactic.

Players association boss Clint Newton didn’t like the criticism of Harry Grant.

He clarified Grant was trying to “protect the guys at the bottom” of the salary ladder.

CEO of the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA) Clint Newton. Picture: James Gourley

“Do we want players to be pot plants where it’s this ‘shut up and play’ type attitude? The fact is, by players advocating for improvements in their terms and conditions, that absolutely has an impact on the future of the game,” Newton said.

He can spin it however he wants after the bungled remarks.

But the campaign from the players’ association shows how the game risks being riddled with entitlement and utterly removed from the blue collar fans at its very heart. This is a dangerous play for any sport.