NRL v RLPA pay dispute: Pasifika pay equality rejected by players union

The NRL has blasted the RLPA, accusing them of rejecting a $37 million pay parity proposal that would have seen Pasifika stars paid the same as tier-one powerhouses Australia and New Zealand.

CEO of the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA) Clint Newton. Picture: AAP Image/James Gourley

NRL boss Andrew Abdo has blasted the RLPA amid fears the code’s biggest Pasifika stars such as Jason Taumalolo, David Fifita and Junior Paulo are being ripped off as part of a $37 million representative-payment dispute.

Abdo says the Rugby League Players Association has rejected an NRL proposal to pay players from Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and Papua New Guinea the same fixed fee as stars from tier-one powerhouses Australia and New Zealand.

“Our proposal was we carve off a small amount of our overall $1.347 billion offer that would mean all NRL and NRLW-contracted players, regardless of which country they choose to play for, will be paid the same amount for an international game,” Abdo said.

“They rejected our offer and said ‘no’.

“They only want the Australian men and women paid from that $1.347 billion player-payment pool.”

Australia v Samoa World Cup final 2022. Credit: NRL Images.

While the likes of Taumalolo, Fifita and Paulo have represented Tonga and Samoa for $500 - or no payment at all - Australian top-liners such as James Tedesco and Latrell Mitchell have pocketed up to $20,000 for a Test match.

In a bid to strengthen international football, Abdo said the ARL Commission has tabled a proposal to better reward the code’s Polynesian contingent, who comprise an estimated 48 per cent of NRL-contracted players.

But Abdo said plans for a standardised Test match fee of $5000 have collapsed as relations between the NRL and RLPA turned toxic on Wednesday over a Collective Bargaining Agreement saga labelled a “player-rights war”.

Essentially, the NRL wants Pasifika stars to be paid the same as their Australian and Kiwi counterparts.

Abdo lashed the RLPA for not coming to the international party.

Contracted NRLW players also miss out. Picture: Lewis Storey/Getty Images

“This is really frustrating,” Abdo said of the stand-off over international player payments.

“We believe in the international game and the ARL Commission has decided they are going to invest in revitalising the international games.

“We have proposed to the RLPA a standardised, fixed match fee to get the international game going.

“Don’t we think all international players should be treated equally regardless of which nation they represent?”

Under the NRL’s plan, $37 million was budgeted for representative-player payments, encompassing State of Origin and Test football over the next five years.

NRL-contracted men were slated to receive $5m annually in representative wages, while $2.3m was set aside each year for NRLW international match fees.

The NRL proposed that male and female players from Pasifika nations such as Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, PNG and Cook Islands would equally share in more than $2m of Test match payments annually with tier-one sides Australia and New Zealand.

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo. Picture: Daily Telegraph/Monique Harmer

There is a view Polynesian Test stars have been snubbed by the RLPA, but Players’ Union boss Clint Newton insists he is supportive of fixed international fees.

“We’re not discriminating against the Polynesian players or teams. There is no prejudice whatsoever,” he said.

“We want to create a model that provides international players with equal payments in all NRL-run tournaments - but we’re proposing that the payments must come from the revenues that are generated by that event.

“International payments have never been in the CBA, so we have had to negotiate individual Test payments for all those (Pacific) nations when they played in mid-season Tests.

“We aren’t disputing standardised payments, but it’s not sustainable if the international game isn’t flush with revenue.

“All we ask is the NRL be transparent about the revenues of an international tournament.

“When I ask the NRL to tell us how much a certain international tournament is expected to generate, they say they don’t know.”

Abdo rejects Newton’s claims and is adamant the NRL has nothing to hide.

“The figures are already there for the RLPA to see,” Abdo said.

“We have included the forecasted revenues for the international game in the numbers we have provided to the RLPA.

RLPA boss Clint Newton. Picture: AAP/James Gourley

“We have set aside funds to go to players who are representing their countries here in the southern hemisphere for the revitalisation of the international calendar.

“The bottom line is we want to see Test matches at the end of the year with standardised payments for contracted NRL and NRLW players.”

Newton refuses to rule out a player strike as the RLPA prepares to enlist an industrial relations expert to broker a deal.

“Ultimately a player strike is always an option, but that is absolutely a last resort,” he said.

“I repeat that strike is an absolute last resort, but we are being pushed into a position where the NRL is saying they are not negotiating anymore.

“It’s basically take it or leave it. Go away.

“OK ... well when you are given a take-it-or-leave-it option, what am I and the players meant to do?

“If you want to call this a war, it’s not a pay war, it’s a war on player rights.

“We believe NRL players should have the right to be properly consulted on issues that affect them.”