NRL 2023: NRL pay dispute about more than

With the pay fight between the NRL and its players now threatening to disrupt the coming season, the real issue in dispute has come to light - and it’s not one that more money will fix.

Christian Welch is leading the charge of angry NRL players. Picture: NRL Images

Maroons star Christian Welch has embraced his tag as ringleader of disgruntled NRL players and urged Peter V’landys to end the messy pay dispute threatening the 2023 premiership.

The Courier-Mail can reveal “fired up” Melbourne Storm prop Welch – who has studied negotiating skills at Harvard University – has emerged as the leading figure in the 500-strong playing group that has started boycotting NRL duties and threatening strike action.

The NRL and Rugby League Players’ Association (RLPA) is locked in a bitter split over collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations just six weeks out from the season kick-off.

The RLPA has rejected the game’s latest offer, with players now refusing to take part in NRL promotional activities, including photo shoots and interviews with the code’s media department.

The NRL has offered the players a record-breaking salary cap worth $12.1 million per club this year – a 25 per cent increase on last season – and $1.347 billion over the next five years.

Christian Welch is leading the charge of angry NRL players. Picture: NRL Images

However the players are fighting for more investment from the NRL into injury, retirement and hardship funds, to be managed by the RLPA. The NRL is reluctant to hand over full control of the funds to the players.

Welch, 28, holds a commerce degree and in 2018 studied “Negotiation Skills: Strategies for Increased Effectiveness” at renowned American institution Harvard.

Now a director of the RLPA, Welch vowed to continue fighting for the players as a showdown with ARLC chairman V’landys and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo looms.

“I’m a director on the board and there’s a few senior players who are really passionate about the players’ cause,” Welch said.

“I’m pretty fired up, mate. It’s been over a year now that we’ve tried to get a fair and reasonable deal done and it hasn’t come to fruition.

“I’m really passionate about the cause of the players and will back them up with any chance I get.

“It’s the players making these decisions. The RLPA is the representative of the playing group.

“Guys like Clint Newton (RLPA CEO) and Tim Lythe (general counsel) are our leaders and we back them to get into these negotiations with Andrew Abdo and Peter V’landys to secure a reasonable deal for the players.”

Welch studied negotiation skills at Harvard in the United States. Picture: Getty Images.

The NRL and RLPA have been locked in tense negotiations for the past year, with the players pushing for a larger slice of the pie and more power.

Regarded as a tough negotiator, V’landys is refusing to yield, prompting the players to this week begin boycotting NRL duties.

V’landys and Abdo declined to comment on the latest actions by the players, but the parties are set to meet in the coming days in an attempt to reach a resolution.

Welch, a 118-game NRL representative, said the players feel like they haven’t been heard.

“It’s been a pretty frustrating situation for over a year now,” he said.

“We started in November 2021 to try and get the ball rolling. We’ve tried to act in good faith.

“The biggest thing for us is not taking away from the game or fans.

“We were frustrated last year throughout the negotiations but there were no interruptions to the schedule. State of Origin, the finals and World Cup went well. The players did their jobs and continued to hope the negotiations would start moving along and be more productive.

“We reached a point last Friday, with the offer that came through, that we’d have to start taking some action because it’s become really embarrassing, particularly for the NRLW.

“We need to get the ball rolling and hopefully get back to the table with the NRL.”

The RLPA wants to control funding for injured players, but the NRL is reluctant to full control to the players. Picture: Getty Images.

Instead of funding the RLPA’s support programs and relinquishing control, the NRL wants to jointly-manage the initiatives.

But Welch said the players deserved to use the money how they wanted.

“It’s the players’ money,” he said.

“That’s the whole point of the RLPA and the players deciding how to use that money. Whether we use it in an injury hardship or retirement account.

“At the moment, the current proposal has the players paying for their health insurance. In such a combative game where there’s injuries … it’s a bit farcical to be honest.

“We’ve been trying to get to the table and negotiate for over a year but there’s been very little negotiation in those meetings.

“The disappointing thing is we could do some really good things if the RLPA and NRL work together to grow our great game. I can see so many good things happening. At the moment the relationship isn’t there.

“Hopefully in a couple of weeks we can get in a room together, hash it out and get back to our jobs and playing footy.

“There’s been a real resistance (from the NRL) to even negotiate with the players and that’s why we are where we are.”

Originally published as NRL 2023: NRL pay dispute about more than