RUPA to push Rugby Australia for overhaul of game after reaching pay deal

The players’ association will push for a transformation of the game after reaching an interim pay deal with Rugby Australia.

Rugby Australia chief executive Raelene Castle: ‘It is important to note that these measures are a stop-gap, not a full-stop.’ Picture: AAP

The Rugby Union Players’ Association will now turn its attention to the “transformation” of the game after agreeing to an interim pay deal with Rugby Australia, even as RA boss Paul McLean ruled out any possibility of extending his term as chairman beyond July 31.

As expected, Australia’s 192 professional rugby players have taken an average 60 per cent reduction in their pay through to September 30, unless the government restrictions put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic are eased before then. The players have already received their full monthly payments for April, with the salary reduction to be amortised over the next five months.

The minimum a player will earn is $1500 per fortnight, the Australian government’s JobKeeper entitlement. The agreement also permits up to six players to explore six-month sabbaticals in an overseas competition from 2021-23, a clause intended to ease some of their financial pain. If the high-profile players decide to exercise that option, they will not be paid by Rugby Australia or their Super Rugby teams while they are with their overseas clubs.

The agreement comes after weeks of back and forth between the two organisations, with RA chief executive Raelene Castle acknowledging the role the Super Rugby professionals were playing in keeping the game alive and afloat. “The players recognise and appreciate their role and shared responsibility in securing the future and helping us navigate through this difficult time and I want to thank them, on behalf of the game, for their willingness to work with us to reach an interim solution that will help us protect the long-term future of rugby in Australia,” Castle said.

“This has not been an easy discussion, but it has been a necessary one to ensure that we are able to emerge from the other side of this crisis in the best possible position for the game to move forward. It is important to note that these measures are a stop-gap, not a full-stop.”

RUPA chief executive, former Wallabies lock Justin Harrison did indicate, however, that his organisation would now be focused fully on bringing about overall reform in the game.

“Immediate attention must now turn to the long-term sustainability of the game and this agreement allowed the players to make a significant contribution to that,” Harrison said in a statement released on Monday night. “RUPA believes in the need for transformation. This process has enabled a greater understanding of the need for root and branch reform of the game.

“RUPA’s members understand their part in the game’s immediate future and the responsibility that goes with it. The players have voted as a block in supporting RUPA’s recommendation.”

It is not known whether Harrison personally or the overall RUPA organisation, which receives its funding from Rugby Australia, is taking a pay cut in line with the 65 per cent Castle has announced she is taking. Attempts to contact Harrison on Monday night were unsuccessful.

Queensland Reds captain Liam Wright indicated the agreement had brought some certainty to the game.

“It’s good to finalise the financial arrangements for the players and give the game certainty for the next six months,” Wright said.

“Everyone involved in rugby in Queensland has been doing it hard since this pandemic started and the players understand their responsibility to bear some financial pain to preserve the state of the game in Australia.”

Meanwhile, McLean has confirmed he will not be staying on as RA chairman beyond the end of July. Former RA board member Geoff Stooke has come out strongly in support of McLean extending his term in a bid to help bring the game together.

However, the former Wallabies captain assured the RA annual general meeting last month that he would not serve beyond that date, and indeed has already begun work on finding a suitable candidate to fill the casual vacancy on the board.

RA’s nominations committee has recommended four possible candidates, former Ten boss and News Corp senior executive Hamish McLennan; Victorian Rugby Board member and president of Epworth Health, Mary-Jane Crabtree; former Wallabies winger Joe Roff; and Michaela Browning, who until recently was Australia’s consul-general to Hong Kong and Macau.