No going back for Reds trio in pay cut dispute

The three Super Rugby players who broke ranks and refused to accept a pay cut have triggered a legal feeding frenzy.

Reds lock Harry Hockings looks certain to play in Japan. Picture: Brendan Hertel

The three Queensland players who have broken ranks with their 189 professional colleagues by refusing to accept a pay cut have almost certainly played their last game for the Reds and will not be playing for any rival Australian Super Rugby province.

The three, World Cup second-rower Izack Rodda, his Reds locking partner Harry Hockings and another 21-year-old, utility back Isaac Lucas, are believed to have sealed their fate within this country by announcing on Friday that they had terminated their contracts with Rugby Australia and the Queensland Rugby Union.

While their actions — and those of their manager Anthony Picone — have triggered a virtual legal feeding frenzy, the outcome from a footballing perspective is that the only place where they can ply their trade is overseas. But given that all three appear bound for Japan, that appears to have been their purpose right from when they broke ranks on Monday to confirm that they had refused to accept the 60 per cent pay cut negotiated by the Rugby Union Players Association with RA.

Until they were stood down by the QRU on Monday, they had continued to draw their full pay, at a time when not only their footballing colleagues were financially hit but so too QRU, many of whom were reduced to one-third of their wages yet still were logging long hours of work. They were the only Picone-managed players not to abide by the agreement to cut players’ salaries up to the end of September.

Picone said in a statement that QRU had no legal basis to issue stand-down notices to the three players. He said the QRU was given considerable opportunity to withdraw the notices and the governing body “failed to do so”.

“This is their livelihood. It is only reasonable that talented players want to secure stable employment during these times,” Picone said.

Along with the QRU’s alleged “repudiatory conduct”, the players’ decision was also informed by the enormous uncertainty surrounding the financial state of rugby union in Australia. This includes concern around the ability for RA to honour its player contracts into the future.

“Izack Rodda, Harry Hockings and Isaac Lucas respect and support their teammates in their decisions and understand that each individual player will assess the situation in relation to their own circumstance,” Picone said.

Picone urged the new RA management — which includes chairman Hamish McLennan and interim CEO Rob Clarke — to adopt a “more nuanced” approach to player relationships.

“It is disappointing the QRU chose to air the issues publicly,” he said. “Given the parlous state of rugby in Australia and Queensland we offered the organisation the opportunity to deal with these matters in private and confidentiality. This offer was rejected.”

Given that the Reds returned to training on Monday, it would have been impossible for the QRU to hide the fact that three members of their starting side were not training.

Lucas may have been forced to wait but all indications were that Rodda, a 25-Test player, and the uncapped Hockings were set to play for Australia in the four-Test series planned against the All Blacks later this season. As a consequence of his decision, Hockings may never play for the Wallabies.