Jack Bird’s million dollar contract with Broncos shows player market is overheating

THE multi-million dollar deal to send Cronulla’s Jack Bird to the Brisbane next season has confirmed fears that the NRL player market is dangerously overheating.

The NRL players earning a million dollars in 2018

THE multi-million dollar deal to send Cronulla’s Jack Bird to the Brisbane Broncos next season has confirmed fears among many league officials and clubs that the NRL player market is dangerously overheating.

Ben Hunt’s monster $6 million Dragons contract signed earlier this year for the 2018 season has created the false economy.

Bird and Hunt’s exorbitant price tags have blown out the values of player contracts, prompting player agents to take full advantage.

As a result, a host of players are demanding they receive the same contract value as Hunt and Bird on the open market.

Only problem, many of these players aren’t in the same league as the game’s number one and first $1 million dollar inductee - Johnathan Thurston.

Mal Meninga was the game’s highest paid player prior to Super League in 1994 on approximately $120,000 dollars a season. Twenty-three years on and there will be upwards of 13 million-dollar players in the NRL next season.

It comes as the NRL are privately concerned that signing players to $1 million-plus deals just on potential is a high risk way for clubs to run their business.

The salary cap for 2018 is yet to be decided, but it’s strongly tipped to be around the $9 million mark to be divided among a squad of 30 players. The majority of clubs are already at or close to their cap limit, forcing them to work off a reduced cap figure until the final amount is finalised.

NRL CEO Todd Greenberg stressed the emphasis was on the clubs to operate and plan appropriately under the rules.

The NRL players earning a million dollars in 2018

“It is up to all club CEOs, managements and boards to be prudent and professional in their recruitment and salary cap forecasting,” Greenberg said.

“In our regular discussions with the clubs many have indicated they are taking a conservative approach in their planning so they have space in the cap once the CBA is finalised.”

A former high-ranking rugby league official has warned the NRL is setting a dangerous precedent by over-paying players based on a dictated market.

He believes rugby league needs to be conscious of the code’s long-term future, like developing the junior ranks.

In addition, NRL clubs ran at a record 53.4 million dollar loss last year despite a $50 million advanced payment on the new TV deal.

Thurston was the first player to earn a million dollars a year, but most players don’t come close to his abilities.

“It’s not a matter of whether the player is worth it or not, it’s a matter of how much can the game afford,” he said.

“Nothing has changed when it comes to the clubs purchasing players.

“They will do whatever it takes to win a premiership. That’s the nature of the beast, that’s the nature of sport. You are never going to stop that.

“They will purchase and pay whatever they are able to, but if you take the period of the last 20 years it is always the clubs that will go broke.

“When the wages went from 100 to 300, then to 700 and now $1.2 million. If that keeps going it will very easily get to $2 million, but how many clubs will we have?

“It has always been a debate that the player should earn unlimited funds. Well that’s fine, but only if the game can afford it. And if the game can’t afford it, sooner or later there will be consequences.”

Jack Bird is the latest player to sign on the big bucks. Pic: Gregg Porteous

League isn’t the only sport to encounter heated debate over player wages.

In the 1990s, rugby union made a decision to concentrate on the elite by paying 90 per cent of the original Three Nations deal to the players.

As a result, the All Blacks went broke as there was no money to invest in other important factors like development.

There are concerns this could be replicated in league if the game fails to devote enough funds to the grassroots.

Gold Coast CEO and former NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley believes players deserve what the market dictates.

Ben Hunt’s huge deal with the Dragons has players thinking they can all ask for that. Pic Darren England.

“It’s a bit like selling your house - it’s worth what someone is prepared to pay for it,” Annesley said.

“Good luck to the players who get the big dollars, but that’s up to the clubs to manage.

“The fact is that player salaries have risen along with the cap for a long period of time. That’s just economics and an evolutionary process. In another 10 years we will probably be having the argument is $2 million too much for a player, just like 10 years ago when $500,000 was too much for one player.

“Any player is worth what someone is prepared to pay for him.”

A fair comment in theory, but at what cost?