Raiders star Josh Hodgson says NRL players only have one pay cheque left
The reality of the game’s financial situation is starting to hit home, following the NRL’s meeting with the RLPA, and Canberra hooker Josh Hodgson says players’ money is about to come to an abrupt halt.
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Star Canberra hooker Josh Hodgson has laid bare the NRL’s grim financial predicament, revealing that all NRL players have been told they might not be paid beyond their next salary instalment.
And in a jaw-dropping worst case scenario, Hodgson confirmed players might not even get another pay if the competition does not return this year.
Hodgson wanted to stress that the players were united behind the Rugby League Players Association and were not blowing up, just coming to terms with the reality of the situation they are all confronting.
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“There is a potential we may not get anything,” Hodgson said.
“We only finished playing last week. To say we might not even get paid in two weeks is a weird one.
“I think we are guaranteed one pay but after that I am not sure.”
But understandably the RLPA is questioning why the players only get $12.4 million of the remaining $100-plus million the NRL has in its reserves.
It is understood some NRL clubs are also demanding to know where all the NRL’s billion dollar TV deal has gone.
Hodgson said the senior players wanted desperately to try and protect the fulltime players down the bottom end of the pay grade.
But he conceded it was looking as though this was going to hit like a sledge hammer for all.
How it works out is that the NRL has offered the RLPA only $12.4 million that has to be divided between 545 players.
So far the players have received five months of wages but have seven still to come because the contract period runs between November and October.
That means $12.4 million averages out at $22,752 a player in total, or just over $3000 a month.
NRL players had been contacting their managers confused about what they were told in a conference hook up on Wednesday _ and there were further meetings on Thursday with a board meeting scheduled for Thursday night.
The NRL and RLPA were hoping to come to an agreement by the end of this week but that would appear highly unlikely now.
Hodgson conceded if the competition did not return this year his last option may be that he is forced to return home with his young family to England.
He stressed that would his absolute last resort.
He said he felt for all the players but particularly those down the bottom end of the player pay scale, while even his own teammate John Bateman was doing it particularly tough given his little girl who was due to come to Australia for the Easter break but now cannot.
“I think collectively as a playing group the RLPA and all the players will just stick together no matter what happens,” he said.
“We will make sure everyone is looked after.
“The talk is that there is one pay (left) that is ready to pay, and they are just trying to come up with a tactic how to spread it. Do you go one pay for a month and that is it? Or whether you go half a pay for two months.
“But I don’t even think a full pay is guaranteed.
“There is a chance we might only get a reduced rate this month and then ‘off you go’ type thing.
“I think the NRL has paid something like 10 per cent more than they should have anywhere with their broadcasting predictions and what it has actually been.”
One more month of full pay would represent the players receiving 50 per cent of their annual salary.
But the players understanding when talks initiated was that taking a 50 per cent pay cut would be on future earnings, not past.
Hodgson did not want to complain, he was only explaining the situation that has been presented to the players.
“I think they said they have got like $120 million and the portion to players was not a lot to be fair,” Hodgson said.
“So they are planning for the worst and hoping for the best I suppose.
“It is a lot to take in. Obviously everyone is in the same boat all over the world at the moment.
“This a curve ball like no one has ever seen before.”
Hodgson said he felt for everyone in rugby league and across general society.
“It is a pretty scary time for most people,” he said.
Hodgson said the hope is that the comp could kick off again in July but said the NRL has said September was the latest starting date.
“From now until September, that is a hell of a long time for blokes not to be looking after their families and earning a living,” he said.
“At the end of the day no one ever plans for this. You have all the insurances in place for career-ending injuries and your retirement funds and everything like that. But no one ever expects something like this to come and crucify the competition.
“And it is not just players, it is staff, it filters right down. It is subcontractors, it is media outlets, it is everyone who earns a living from the game. Rugby League generates so much money that people don’t realise. There is a lot of people affected.”