Greg Inglis contract talks on hold until salary cap rise

GREG Inglis is one of a number of NRL stars who will hit pause on their contract talks until a decision is made on the salary cap.

Greg Inglis of the South Sydney rugby league team during a South Sydney media call at Redfern Oval, Sydney. Pic Brett Costello

SOUTH Sydney fans sweating on Greg Inglis finishing his career at Redfern will be hoping the NRL finalise the salary cap increases for 2018 as soon as possible.

Inglis’ manager Allan Gainey revealed to The Daily Telegraph he would not start negotiations to extend the champion fullback’s contract at the Rabbitohs until full details of the proposed salary cap increase for 2018 are revealed.

The salary cap will rise from $6.8 million to $7 million next season — the final year of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement — but the NRL is yet to discuss the figure for 2018 and beyond.

This has left a number of the NRL’s biggest names, including Inglis, Penrith skipper Matt Moylan and Melbourne star Cooper Cronk in the dark over their earning capacity when negotiating new deals.

“It doesn’t give you much to work with when you don’t know what the cap is and you need to know if you are going to do anything beyond 2017.” Gainer said.

“They (the NRL) have got the money from the TV deal four months ago, so it would be good to know how much the cap will be.”

Gainey revealed he would have pushed for talks on a new Inglis deal at Redfern as soon as July if the financial future was clearer.

“It has certainly put things on a bit of a holding pattern,” Gainey said.

“I’m keen to have a chat with Souths, but both parties agree it’s not the most appropriate time. That might change if we know what the cap is and then we can know what we are working with.”

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Gainey said he has spoken to South Sydney general manager of football Shane Richardson about Inglis’ extension beyond 2017. Richardson confirmed he too wanted to wait until the club had a reasonable idea of the salary cap increase before entering into talks about the star fullback.

But when contacted by The Daily Telegraph, Richardson responded via text saying: “Sorry, I don’t discuss player negotiations.”

Canterbury’s star halfback Moses Mbye has delayed signing a four-year contract extension until he adds in clauses around the new salary cap increase.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal the Bulldogs have agreed to the clauses and Mbye will officially submit his signed contract next week.

Inglis will not make a decision on his future until the salary cap is finalised.

However, not every player has the pulling power of the Bulldogs playmaker.

It’s understood a number of off-contract lower-tier players in the NRL haven’t been able to get cap increase clauses written into their contracts.

This also applies to clauses around increases with the minimum wage.

A number of player managers and players are upset with the lack of support from the governing body, which has forced them to insert their own protection clauses that require club approval.

It’s understood the RLPA is aware of the current struggle for players trying to negotiate new deals without knowledge of salary cap increases and will address how players, particularly those with less leverage, can be greater protected.

Until then, players are being forced to negotiate their own cap increase clauses in the hope they are agreed upon by their clubs.

If not, they have to roll the dice and do so without the full knowledge of their earning capacity.