NRL 2024: Scott Sattler throws support behind draft for off-contract players instead of rookie draft amid expansion plans

Ryan Papenhuyzen to the Wests Tigers? That could be reality under a proposed draft for off-contract players by league legend Scott Sattler, to help level the playing field for struggling teams.

Scott Sattler has thrown his support behind a draft for off-contract NRL players rather than a rookie draft, as talent equalisation is put back on the agenda amid the game’s expansion plans for a 20-team competition.

It comes after the NRL’s Pathways Steering Committee is preparing to take a number of player development recommendations to clubs at the next CEO’s meeting on December 4, including the potential for a rookie draft.

News Corp revealed in September that the PSC, which includes Panthers CEO Matt Cameron, Melbourne general manager Frank Ponissi, Roosters coach Trent Robinson and QRL CEO Ben Ikin would consider the introduction of a rookie draft for up and coming players.

This masthead understands that while a rookie draft has been floated, a detailed proposal of what it would look like is yet to be determined.

Unlike a rookie draft, an internal senior player draft would include off-contract players already signed to an NRL club in the final year of their deal – effectively replacing the current November 1 system.

Penrith premiership-winning forward Sattler, who was the Titans’ inaugural football boss and tasked building the Gold Coast’s foundation roster, believes such a model would help make clubs anchored at the bottom of the ladder more competitive and close the gap between the competition’s heavyweights like Penrith and Melbourne, and struggling teams.

Under an internal senior player draft this year’s wooden spooner the Wests Tigers would get the first pick in a senior draft system, putting them in the box set to land Melbourne’s Ryan Papenhuyzen.

“I think an internal draft can work, but not a rookie draft,” Sattler said.

Scott Sattler believes the off-contract draft would be better than the rookie draft. Picture: Adam Head

“I’m a huge fan of a draft for players who are coming off contract. So when November 1 comes, if you haven’t re-signed with your existing club, you go into an NRL senior draft … that would even up the competition even more.

“For example, the Wests Tigers finished last this year, so they get the first opportunity to sign someone like Jarome Luai. If they can’t afford his minimum asking price, then they have to pass on him and pick someone else and Luai becomes available for the second-last placed team.

“I don’t see a rookie turning a struggling club around because they might not play NRL for three years.”

The Tigers would be entitled to the first crack at Ryan Papenhuyzen under the internal draft system. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

The AFL has had a draft system since 1986 but recent efforts to introduce either a rookie or senior draft in the NRL have never progressed beyond the drawing board.

In 1991, a federal court ruled that the NSWRL’s senior player draft was a restraint of trade after it was successfully challenged by Terry Hill. Any overhaul to the current contract system would need the backing of NRL players.

The introduction of a rookie draft would also require the same backing, and the re-engineering of the game’s pathways to a more centralised system, effectively taking the responsibility of development away from clubs.

One potential rookie draft model would allow clubs to quarantine a certain number of players from the emerging pool of talent to help ensure club’s are not decentivised from developing youngsters.

Outgoing QRL chairman Bruce Hatcher believes a rookie draft will also stop clubs wasting money on a ‘lottery-style’ search for the next NRL superstar.

“The failure rate for kids at 14 or 15 who aspire to be full-time professionals is quite high, at that age trying to predict if a teenager will make it is like picking the national lottery. Too many clubs waste money trying to identify talent,” Hatcher said.

“A rookie draft can be a great way to funnel young talent into the NRL clubs.”

Hatcher believes a rookie draft could help ensure the NRL’s success in the long-term given the game’s plan to forge ahead with a 20-team competition. A draft could also be a revenue driver for the NRL, who could offer it to broadcasters as a separate product.

But for now, the PSC is likely to prioritise the revival of financially sustainable national youth competition as soon as 2026. Blowout in the cost of the under-20s NYC led to its axing back in 2017.

The committee will also look at tightening rules around how many young players can be signed to club academies, how much they can earn and at what age they can sign with an NRL club. Under current rules, players as young as 14 can be contracted to NRL clubs.