NRL Rich 100: Top salaries for the highest paid players in 2020

For the first time the full list of the highest paid players in the NRL can be revealed. There is no shortage of shocks the full list of the NRL Rich 100 where we profile the top players.

• Rich 100: Why nobody can match Keary’s bang for buck
• Rich 100: The man behind the NRL’s recruiting moves

For more than 35 years, the wealthiest Australians have turned to their annual rich list to see who’s on top at the big end of town.

Ranked in order by personal net worth from one to 100, the much-anticipated list features the country’s greatest success stories of men and women.

While the list inspires budding entrepreneurs, it seldom sparks the type of raw emotion that leaves us yelling, cheering and screaming at our televisions and in grandstands.

That’s what rugby league does. But in our game, we’ve never known the true value of our biggest names. Until now.

SCROLL DOWN TO CHECK OUT THE TOP 100

For the first time, the NRL’s 100 highest-paid players can be revealed.

We bring these players into our family, into our homes, down the park, at the cafe and on our devices.

We know how to spell the first name and surname of our favourite player simply by looking at their shirt number.

Cowboys Justin O'Neill is tackled by Parramatta's Waqa Blake and Blake Ferguson who both provide good value for money for the Eels, according to the Rich 100. Picture: Brett Costello

We know their best position, we know they should play State of Origin, and we know they should never play first grade again.

We curse them. We argue for them. We want them to win and we want them to lose.

And now we understand just how much they’re worth to your team.

A month-long News Corp investigation undertaken by senior rugby league journalists Phil Rothfield, Peter Badel and myself has delivered the inaugural 2020 NRL Rich 100.

So who’s the highest-paid player in the NRL? Exactly which player is the most overpaid, who is worth more and which club has made the best and worst recruitment decisions over the seasons?

Let the jostling begin.

Unlike in the NBA and NFL in the US, where athlete salaries are made public on the basis of transparency, NRL players have fought the game’s administrators for decades from disclosing their salary earnings.

But as the code faces a battle to avoid another salary cap scandal, players are in an increasing position of weakness.

 

Tyson Frizell is off to the Knights which comes with a pay rise. Picture: Robb Cox/NRL Photos

 

The NRL is exploring options that would open the vault and lift the lid on player salaries. And so here it is.

The NRL Rich 100 has been compiled after painstaking research that has included interviewing the game’s money-ball men and the gatekeepers to all 16 club salary caps.

Former NRL executives, player agents, club recruitment officers, general managers, coaches, chief executives and chairs have all contributed to ranking the 100 highest-paid players in 2020.

The figures are accurate and don’t account for any extra earnings outside the $9.8 million salary cap that each club is bound to work under.

Third-party deals and individual sponsorship have been ignored, with the figures listed simply that of which the player will earn inside the salary cap this season.

The list — from one to 100 — and its ramifications will be revealed over the next four days.

 

Josh Hodgson provides tremendous value for money. Picture: Robb Cox/NRL Photos

 

We investigated the salaries of every player inside — and just outside — the top 100. The list will show information previously considered guesswork — which positions generate the highest salary, which clubs are paying the most for their players, and which age demographic pulls in the biggest bucks.

The NRL Rich 100 will expose the clubs with poor roster management and why clubs with multiple big-earners — such as the Titans, Sharks and Tigers — are frozen from major recruitment moves.

We also reveal which clubs are still paying for players that are now at rival clubs.

The first instalment of the highest-earning players from 100 to 51 includes a stunning insight into the earnings of household names and the stars we watch every weekend.

SCROLL DOWN TO CHECK OUT THE TOP 100

You’ll be shocked that Broncos forward David Fifita — being offered a $1.2 million contract by the Gold Coast — is on $300,000 this season, and so missed the cut for this year’s Rich 100.

We learn the Top 100’s bottom half is made up of prop-forwards and back-rowers, and that despite winning three premierships and a Clive Churchill medal, Roosters playmaker Luke Keary is ranked outside the top 50.

He’s not alone. We discover representative and premiership-winning players including Josh Papalii (56), Josh Hodgson (60), Tyson Frizell (61) and Blake Ferguson (90) also sit outside the 50 highest-paid players.

Hugely influential in Parramatta’ s chances of winning this year’s premiership, Maika Sivo is ranked at 86th.

And if Penrith’s Apisai Koroisau wasn’t the buy of the season before, he is now. His $500,000 salary saw him scrape into the rich list at 93.

On Sunday, we’ll reveal the No.1-paid player in the NRL.

Cue the outrage.