NRL warns players to expect a $400m Covid-19 hit

The NRL has told the players union to expect to cop a $400m hit from Covid-19 as it attempts to finalise pay talks.

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo. Picture: Phil Hillyard

The NRL has told the players union that the COVID crisis is set to wipe $400 million off the game’s bottom line as it attempts to find some common ground on the salary cap for next season and avoid another bitter pay dispute.

The Australian understands the figure encompasses this season and the next two, taking the game through until the end of the current broadcasting cycle at the end of 2022. At the heart of those losses are the discounts provided to broadcasters for the next two seasons and the absence of gate receipts and potentially sponsorship for clubs.

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The figure has been put to the players’ union as part of talks designed to end the painstaking search for a salary cap figure that sits well with the NRL, the clubs and the players.

The NRL had initially hoped to have the cap for next season in place by the end of August.

However, it now appears likely the end of this month is a more realistic target as the parties haggle over whether the cap should be reduced by five or 10 per cent, and whether squad numbers should be sliced.

The issue has been simmering for weeks and club chiefs have become increasingly concerned with uncertainty over the future.

Many are attempting to piece together budgets for next season, yet they are forced to do so with no knowledge of what they must pay the players or what the club grant will be.

They are plucking figures from the sky as the NRL and Rugby League Players Association drag their heels on the future.

It is understood the union has been keeping player agents abreast of the situation, cognisant of their place in the game.

Rugby League Players Association chief executive Clint Newton.

At the same time, frustration grows in clubland over the ­inability to strike a deal. It is understood NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo and RLPA boss Clint Newton will hold talks this week but club bosses have been frozen out, having initially been part of the conversation.

A committee including club representatives was formed to negotiate the salary cap but are no longer part of the talks. Instead, Abdo has taken the running on an issue that has the capacity to drive a wedge between the players, the clubs and head office.

Like every other sport in the country, the NRL has been ravaged by the coronavirus and its players have had to wear some of the burden. They struck a pay deal for this season that resulted in them receiving about 80 per cent of their pay, but that agreement expires at the end of October.

Beyond that, the NRL and RLPA are yet to reach agreement and pressure is intensifying as clubs prepare to apportion their penultimate monthly payment for the year. While the NRL and clubs have struggled at times to make ends meet, Canterbury on Monday revealed it was poised to emerge from the year in reasonable shape after putting in place a series of measures designed to stem the financial bleeding.

The Bulldogs have relied on as much as $6 million from their leagues club in recent seasons to balance the books but they have had to stand on their own two feet in recent months.

Remarkably, they have done so with minimal impact. The football club’s rosy financial outlook comes amid talk that chair Lynne Anderson is under pressure due to a fallout with leagues club boss George Coorey.

Coorey has been accused of inappropriate behaviour towards female members of the leagues club but remains in charge, an independent report finding there was not enough evidence to warrant his removal.

Anderson is chair of the football club and has no power to act against Coorey. Her focus has been on keeping the football club afloat and the signs are promising.

“It is fantastic to be able to report that the football club has come through an incredibly challenging COVID-19 period in a strong position, and are on target to post a healthy profit on our 2020 profit and loss,” she said.

“In what has been a tough challenge for all businesses, we have managed to navigate the landscape through early action, careful planning and budgetary constraint to protect the long-term viability of the club.

“It needs to be stated that our monthly grant from the Canterbury League Club stopped in March by mutual decision. The leagues club stopped trading at that point and had to undergo its own operational review.”