Kangaroos face $1m World Cup pay cut to support minnows
AUSTRALIAN stars, including skipper Cameron Smith, could be asked to forfeit $1 million in match payments under a radical plan to reward minnow rivals.
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AUSTRALIA stars, including skipper Cameron Smith, could be asked to forfeit $1 million in match payments under a radical plan to reward minnow rivals following Tonga’s World Cup heroics.
The Courier Mail can reveal NRL officials have discussed redirecting money given to pampered Kangaroos and Kiwi players to bridge the gap between the World Cup’s princes and paupers.
The development comes as Tonga coach Kristian Woolf took aim at World Cup and international league bosses over the disparity in funding. While Australian players receive $20,000 per Test match, Woolf revealed his Tongan squad is being paid a paltry $500 per game.
Should Australia win the World Cup, their 24-man squad will receive $50,000 per man as negotiated under the NRL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.
That equates to a $1.2 million Kangaroo windfall — money influential league officials believe should instead be used to help reward rivals from tier-two nations such as Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and PNG.
Australia and New Zealand’s pay arrangement for this World Cup will not change. The idea to redistribute match payments and have Tongan and Fijian stars earning the same match fees as Kangaroos and Kiwi players is being slated for the next World Cup.
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For the plan to work, Australia and New Zealand’s elite millionaires would have to accept drastic pay cuts to ostensibly help their poorly paid rivals.
The flat-fee idea is likely to go down like a lead balloon with Kangaroos big guns such as Smith, who waged a public battle with the NRL this year in the fight for better pay conditions.
A formal proposal has not been tabled at this stage to ARLC chairman John Grant, but he is aware of the push to slash Kangaroos payments to help the international game.
Woolf said Tongan players deserved a better slice of the financial pie after watching his troops pull off a superb 28-22 World Cup upset of New Zealand on Saturday night.
“My issue is in terms of what the tier-one teams are paid and their budgets. There is a massive difference,” he said.
“I’d love to see the day where everything is equal — all the benefits are equal. We struggle to get money for physios, massages and rehab equipment.
“I know there’s not an abundance of money, but the nations who are really starting to improve, I would love to see them get more funds.
“Even if we can’t get $20,000 for a Test, maybe we could get paid $5,000 ... at least the players would feel appreciated for the efforts they have put in.”
World Cup chief executive Andrew Hill hopes Australia and New Zealand players would consider taking a financial hit for the good of the sport.
“As a tournament, we pay all travel, meals and allowances equally. We don’t favour any team. What nations pay their players is not under our control,” Hill said.
“I think there would be general support across the game for a set figure for World Cup payments.
“The challenge would be who is responsible for making those payments — it should not be an organising committee that runs the World Cup.
“But as the results of Tonga and other Pacific nations have shown, it is a question that has to be answered by someone in administration going forward.”
Originally published as Kangaroos face $1m World Cup pay cut to support minnows