NRL Rich 100 2024: Clubs paying sidelined stars a fortune as injuries hit hard

Analysis of our exclusive NRL Rich 100 list reveals the incredible proportion of their salary cap some clubs had left languishing on the sidelines in 2024. SEE THE NUMBERS HERE

Mitchell Moses is the NRL’s most important millionaire, with the Eels a near 30 per cent better chance of winning when their star halfback is playing.

But Moses is also the face of the injury crisis crippling the game’s biggest stars, with the top 10 missing a whopping 215 of 739 matches over the past three season - an incredible 29% of all games.

Moses has been paid the equivalent of $150,000 a game over his eight matches this season, while Tino Fa’asuamaleaui has collected $500,000 for each of his two matches.

This masthead can reveal the impact the game’s 10 highest paid players have had on results since the start of 2022 to the start of round 27 to outline if clubs are getting bang for the seven figure bucks.

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Remarkably, some clubs’ winning percentages do not shift even if their most important players are missing.

Moses is the most influential player when it comes to his team’s success.

With Moses in the team, the Eels have won 56.6 per cent of their matches.

But in 22 games he has missed, Parramatta has won just six games – a terrible 27.3 per cent winning rate.

Manly also struggle when the highest paid player Tom Trbojevic is missing.

Trbojevic has missed the most of any of the top 10 paid players, having spent 35 games on the sidelines. Manly won just 13 of those games (37%) compared to 20 wins from 36 matches (56%) when he did play.

Newcastle skipper Kalyn Ponga (25 matches) and Nathan Cleary (28) have also missed big chunks of seasons.

The Eels have paid Mitchell Moses big money to watch from the sidelines. Picture: Getty Images

Interestingly the Knights have performed well without Ponga despite his run to Dally M player of the year last year with their win ratio sitting at 44 per cent with or without their main man.

Melbourne has the exact 66.7 per cent winning and losing rate regardless if five-eighth Cameron Munster plays or not.

The same can be said for Brisbane and Payne Haas. The Broncos have a 58.8 per cent winning rate minus Haas and that percentage dips by just one with their prop playing.

Some of the win ratios include:

● South Sydney win just 30 per cent of games without Mitchell but that jumps to 59.1 per cent when he plays. This shows why the Rabbitohs have been so keen for him to be available for round one next season;

● Penrith is at 86.1 per cent with Cleary and 71.4 per cent without him;

● Titans are at 39.3 per cent without Fa’asuamaleaui and just 27.9 per cent with him.

Warriors prop Addin Founa-Blake has proven to be the most durable missing just five games in this period with the Warriors winning just one of those matches.

Veteran Roosters fullback James Tedesco has also had a good injury free run having missed just seven matches.