Mutiny by three Queensland Reds could be start of bigger exodus

The three Queensland players who refused to sign pay reduction document might not be the only ones considering their future.

Queenland’s Isaac Lucas is one of three Reds players who have refused to accept the 60 per cent pay cut.

Transfer fees, the broadcast deal, whether Rugby Australia is going to be in a financial position to honour all the players’ contracts it has signed and the Giteau Law suddenly all were on the table for debate on Monday after three Queensland Reds stars refused to agree to salary reductions.

Test lock Izack Rodda and prospective Wallabies Harry Hockings and Isaac Lucas have all failed to sign the pay deal negotiated in mid-April between RA and the Rugby Union Players Association.

Under the arrangement, players were set to accept an average pay cut of 60 per cent until the end of September. It was only 10 days ago that the Queensland Rugby Union realised the three players had refused to sign but matters did not come to a head until the Reds had their first day of post-COVID-19 training on Monday. According to an RA spokesman, every one of the other 189 rugby professionals in the country has signed the pay reduction documents but, as former Wallabies captain Stephen Moore noted on Monday, that does not mean that the issue is confined to these three Anthony Picone-managed players.

“Even though these three player are the only ones to officially decline the terms, I guess we would be naive to think they would be the only ones thinking about what the future looks like,” Moore told The Australian.

The man who led Australia in the 2015 World Cup final said that while a number of players might be lured by foreign clubs, particularly by those in Japan where Top League salaries seem to be defying the global downturn — for the moment — there were other factors to take into account. And to emphasise his words, Japan this week became the largest economy in the world to officially enter a recession in the coronavirus era.

“There are a couple of things … firstly, I don’t think that there will be these ‘rivers of gold’ that everyone thinks all the time,” Moore said. “It’s all very well and good everyone is going to go overseas but the competitions over there are facing a period of uncertainty as well. And more players will come on to the market as well, from other countries, so it’s not going to be one-way traffic.

“The other part of this that will dictate what the gap is between what we can afford to pay players in Australia and what they can get overseas. Players can deal with a reasonable gap but if that gap becomes significant, then the decision becomes a bit harder.

“And then I guess a decision also has to be made around Wallaby players getting selected from overseas. Is it inevitable that will happen at some point? The finances and the broadcast deal will dictate how many players we can afford to play in Australia with a decent competition to make it competitive with overseas markets. So there is a bit to happen before you can make any blanket judgments.”

While the three players are examining their contracts with their lawyers, it would not surprise if RA and the QRU were doing the same with their own legal advisers, looking for a way to “monetise” their investment in the three youngsters. Rodda, a 25-Test veteran, is only 23 while both Hockings and Lucas are just 21 and it seems outlandish that an agent who has done virtually nothing to develop them should now be profiting from taking them offshore.

Ironically, the QRU refuses in principle to speak to Picone, in part because of his past actions in sending Samu Kerevi and Campbell Magnay off to Japan, but when it was searching for an explanation from the players for their actions, they were invited to have a virtual representative speak for them at the Zoom conference. They chose Picone. RUPA CEO Justin Harrison also was invited to the virtual meeting but declined, apparently ruling this an employer-employee dispute.

Reds coach Brad Thorn is reputedly extremely upset at the “mutiny” in his ranks and is yet to speak publicly about how the probable loss of those three players will affect the development of what had looked to be a champion Queensland side in the making.

Incoming Wallabies coach Dave Rennie attempted unsuccessfully to talk Rodda and Hockings — as the two players selected in the shadow squad by the Australian selectors — out of their decision.

Rodda, as a Wallabies starting lock at last year’s World Cup, looms as a considerable loss but it may be that Hockings will be the most damaging blow of all. Thorn has rated him a 100-cap Queensland player-in-the-making and there is little doubt — at least before he took this action — that he would have made his Test debut this year. Now the legitimate question is: will he ever play for Australia?

The Reds had planned a press conference at Ballymore on Monday morning to welcome the players back after the long COVID-19 lockdown.

Instead, QRU chief executive David Hanham and RA director of rugby Scott Johnson were forced to give a much more serious briefing to the media.

“I find it frustrating because I’d like to talk about rugby,” said Johnson, one of the three Australian selectors.

“These guys have a decision to make and we’ve got to respect their ability to do that and seek their counsel and we’ll act accordingly. They’re three guys of national interest. We showed commitment from our end because we value their talent.”