Stars unite in Origin pay fight

SPORTS-Editor-at-large Phil Rothfield reveals that player anger over their $2m share of the $30m Origin pie could lead to strike action.

A LUXURY bus pulls up outside Melbourne's $700-a-night Langham Hotel on the Yarra River on State of Origin night last week.

More than 25 old officials from the NSWRL, QRL and NRL commission, many with their wives or partners, pile on for the ride to Etihad Stadium.

The NRL has paid for their airfares, accommodation, tickets, meals and the bus ride. It's a gravy train that would cost the game a cool $50,000.

Meanwhile, the players have flown their families to Melbourne and accommodated them at a peak rate at their own expense.

They have had to buy jerseys that are signed and donated to charities, pay for extra tickets and will walk away with about $3000 for putting on arguably the greatest annual sporting show in the country.

Often it takes months for them to get paid the $3000 - and more than a decade to get half of the match fee which is kept locked away in an NRL loyalty fund.

Not surprisingly, the superstars of the game have had enough. The paltry player payments were a big talking point in both camps before Origin I.

The series generates more than $30 million in revenue but the 34 players share only $2 million of it, about six per cent.

There is even talk of strike action unless players' association boss David Garnsey can negotiate a better deal in the next collective bargaining agreement, which is due to be finalised in October.

"It would be a sad move but they've got to get their point across," said leading player agent Mike Newton, who looks after Glenn Stewart and Mitchell Pearce.

"I know a lot of our senior players followed all the developments in the recent NBA strike in the states.

"I'm not saying it's going to happen here but I know some of the players have flagged it as a last resort."

The NRL has lifted Origin fees to $20,000 a game but $10,000 goes into a loyalty fund players can't touch until they retire, which was designed to stop them from switching codes.

The money is automatically forfeited if they jump ship to AFL or rugby union.

Not that it worried AFL converts Karmichael Hunt or Israel Folau, who were owed $120,000 by the NRL from representative football when they left the game.

AFL boss Andrew Demetriou ensured they weren't out of pocket and paid all the loyalty money on top of their million-dollar deals with the Suns and GWS.

Of the remaining $10,000 from Origin, half goes on tax. It leaves $5000, but once travel and accommodation for their families, jerseys, tickets and other incidentals have been deducted, the players generally take home about $3000.

They get four free tickets but try telling someone like Maroons prop Ben Hannant, who comes from a family of 11, that's enough. Particularly when so many officials are on freebies.There are many stories from the past about players even having to pay to play Origin.

The great NSW forward Ben Kennedy got a bill for $89 after flying in family and friends for his farewell game for the Blues.

Another year it cost Queensland and Canberra Raiders player Clinton Schifcofske $100 to play for the Maroons. He got a $5000 match fee and $3000 in prizemoney. Half went to the loyalty fund (which he lost when he switched to rugby) a quarter in tax, and the remainder on flights, accommodation and jerseys for family.

Player agent Wayne Beavis has been regularly meeting with the players' association to tackle the pay issues.

"The players are entitled to 25 per cent of revenue," Beavis said, "Or up to $50,000 a game. They put the show on. They create the revenue."

Beavis and the players also want the loyalty fund scrapped. It's not about more for the agents. They don't charge for representative money.

"I could do more for Jarryd Hayne with his money than having it sit in an NRL bank account," Beavis said.

"If he plays until he's 33, he's got another nine years to wait for his money. He could be building his asset base a lot quicker than the NRL can.

"The jewel in the crown is the players. No players, no game. More kids come into the game from the wonderful spectacle the players put on in this event."

Bulldogs hooker and former Blues forward Michael Ennis agrees with abolishing the loyalty fund.

"The best spot for your money these days is on your home loan," he said. "We're all trying to get ahead in life and we're only in the game for 10 years. You work so hard to make an Origin team and you should be getting paid the top rate for it."

If the players are looking for a sympathetic ear from NRL boss David Gallop, they will be disappointed.

He is reluctant to commit to any substantial pay rise, even when the next TV deal doubles the media money coming into the sport.

"We lifted payments from $5000 to $20,000 in a short period," he said. "The money Origin generates goes toward the club grants that helps fund club player payments and junior footy.

"The rep loyalty fund and the allocation model were agreed with RLPA, so the players should talk to their association if they want a change in the mix of payments.

"It is a tax-effective way of rewarding the players for sticking with our game and provides a big payment at the end of their career if you play rep footy for an extended period."

The other gripe among the players is the delay in getting paid. It took six months for the Kangaroos to get their money after last year's Four Nations tour to England.

"Does it really take them that long to count how many hot dogs and pies have been purchased," player manager Steve Gillis said. "The players should be paid within seven days like everyone else in the workforce."

The current Origin players are reluctant to comment on the record at this stage, fearing a backlash from the head body.

"It's early days to be speaking about that (a strike)," RLPA boss David Garnsey.

"We'd rather negotiate a fair deal but it's a weapon that can be used.

"The first game attracted record TV ratings and a capacity crowd at a non-league venue.

"The players are attracting the sponsors, the ratings and the crowds, then go back and play for their clubs a couple of days later.

"This is a lucrative product that is even attracting interest in the US and bids to host games in Melbourne."

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