If the Rise for Alex Round has shown us anything this weekend, it’s that; (1) the NRL desperately needs an insurance scheme to protect its players and; (2) the NRL community can rally to support its own.
Now, I will admit to being a 21-year-old guy with little knowledge of the intricacies and practicalities of insurance. It is, however, clear to me and many other rugby league fans that the current situation is a disgrace.
Obviously rugby league is tough sport (that’s why we love it), and there is a voluntary assumption of risk every time a player takes the field. There is a genuine risk of serious and permanent injury in every tackle. I understand that it may be difficult for an insurance company to offer reasonable premiums while still covering their liability.
However, I simply cannot believe that players have such little support in the event of a career ending injury. For every Alex McKinnon and Liam Fulton, there is a hundred Simon Dwyers or Taniela Tuiakis who have been left unemployable and helpless.
Firstly, let’s remember that the Australian Rugby Union has a compulsory insurance scheme in place already (as do the AFL and A-League). Gow Gates Insurance provides the ARU with basic cover, protecting players and officials from personal injury costs, public and property liability and professional indemnity. The ARU then encourages all players to take out private health cover and life insurance, which Gow Gates can assist with.
The obvious solution seems to be for the NRL to seek something similar, engaging an insurance company to draw up a similar policy and then making it compulsory for all players. However, if for whatever reason, this is unacceptable to the NRL, at the very least they should be looking at self-insuring.
The NRL signed a well-publicised billion dollar television deal in 2012. The first step should be to put aside a certain amount (be it $2 million, $5 million, $10 million) as the base of an emergency insurance fund. The next step would be to make it compulsory as part of every player contract that a small percentage of the contract go into the insurance fund, similar to superannuation.
A percentage makes more sense than a flat premium in this particular situation. The players showed last weekend that they were willing to help out a fellow player when he was in need. Is it too much to ask that high paid players, like Jonathan Thurston and Jarryd Hayne, pitch in a little more to the protection of players than the young guys who are earning less than ten times that a season?
Realistically, a higher paid player is going to be better off if they suffer a career ending injury anyway, as there higher profile and larger contract will make post-retirement life easier to deal with and their financial situation better. An insurance company or law firm could then be in charge of managing the fund and dealing with claims and payments.
So, that’s my unprofessional opinion. The NRL provides the emergency fund with a base, and then the players top it up by pooling their resources and ensuring that players who suffer career-ending injuries are looked after.
There are obviously some complexities I haven’t touched on, like what injuries would be covered and whether or not there would be a statute of limitations of claims (a little over my head, I’m afraid), but hopefully the NRL and the Player’s Association reach an agreement soon and player welfare becomes a priority.
Minz
Guest
Why doesn't it apply to rugby league? To paraphrase Cypress Hill, it's good job, but it's just a job
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
Its always an issue when the players association is funded by the NRL itself. Thus the whole don't bite the hand that feeds it. Not to mention that as a group they have always been fairly weak. It would be interesting to get a view from a player on how they view the players association (even if done anonymously)
AR
Guest
I guess that's right. From reading below, it looks like something is close to being signed off...sadly too late.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
The thing that amazes me ,after the two competing comps got together post SL,that with all the money thrown around at the time,and the rationalisation of the comp,that player insurance was not a priority.That is just plain amateur hour in my book. I get criticised for having a shot at the Gallop admin's past efforts at times,but we had a corporate lawyer leading the organisation,so surely he would have realised the importance of Insurance from a Legal perspective.And indeed a welfare perspective. Could the underlying influence have been a Tv deal,that did not provide the real value of the "product' enabling a Insce scheme to be set up.What did the Players Assoc do in the past .one has to ponder. The sad thing is it has taken the accident for a lovely young guy Alex (who epitomises real Aussie courage),to finally get things moving on the Insce front.Bout bloody time I say.
Owen McCaffrey
Roar Guru
The NZRU in New Zealand has a self insurance pool of somewhere between $15-20million dollars for player injuries. It is built up out of reserves and excess profits. Player insurance is vital if players are badly injured.
Jimbo Jones
Guest
I would expect them to have something in place. My point is if you know that there is nothing in place, would you try and put something in place to cover yourself so you could still look after yourself and your family?
james
Guest
the timing of this article is perfect; http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/rugby-league-players-finally-set-to-be-covered-for-serious-injuries-20140722-zvtc9.html "NRL players could be comprehensively covered for serious injuries by the end of the month after they were presented with an insurance policy for their approval." btw I agree 100% with the article that players should have some sort of coverage done by the NRL now that the ARLC has money.
Tom Clarke
Roar Pro
Yes I think concussion would be the biggest issue, since the long term consequences are still unknown and appear much later on
Fairy fairfax
Roar Rookie
Guess. Go on, guess.
Fairy fairfax
Roar Rookie
Guess. Go on, guess.
AlanKC
Guest
No insurance company will cover them for anything other than death (they might be able to get Critical Illness cover but that's for heart attack/cancer/stroke etc) apart from some highly specialised small group schemes and I imagine the premiums are horrendous given they are based on the likelihood of a claim. They certainly can't get total and permanent disability (Alex McKinnon's situation) or income protection insurance. The only chance for the players to get cover would be for the managing body to try and get a group scheme established through one of the re-insurance companies. I think a better idea is for the NRL to self insure and partially fund it themselves from revenue and partly from a levy placed on player contracts. It'd start out as a small pool of funds but within a few years it'd be a substantial fund that would provide decent security for the players who cop long term or permanently disabling injuries.
AR
Guest
Absolutely!
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
Possibly, but you can't get any details on how the "18 Member" ie Pro players are covered. Even the coverage for the levels below are grey, but then again it's insurance so I suspect it's suppose to have heaps of outs in favour of the insurance company!
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
But their you are talking about workcover. So that's a different kettle of fish, one that doesn't apply to NRL footballers. Not to mention that the amount of safety programs etc that are in place in mining are there to prevent injuries. Something that's hard to do within the NRL just due to the nature of the work.
AR
Guest
Gday dogs, something similar to this is what the players may be referring to: http://afl.jltsport.com.au/
AR
Guest
If you were working for a mining company, and there was an accident where you got injured, would you expect the mining company to have an insurance policy in place...or would it be your responsibility?
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
I think you don't understand that players have a duty to themselves to insure for loss of income due to injury (no different to any one else, I pay income insurance for myself, and having had a major injury which forced me out of work for a few years, I know it pays for itself). It's just in there line of work, it's much more expensive a proposition to do as it's determined on a risk factor, so a white collar work may pay $60 a month, a league player willl be paying a hell of a lot more. I think the thing is that players baulk once they realise the expectation will be something between 5-10% of your salary is required for coverage as the risk is high, and goes up the longer you play the game (concussions will catch up with players) The other consideration, which has taken the most time to organise, is that the players association wants a whole of game fund, so coverage from U6's to the top grade, including women. This is a great, but working out intricacies such as if someone gets a career ending injury like Alex McKinnon, how much money should be enough to cater for that situation. The higher the amount payable, the higher the premiums. Then the question comes down to how much do people have to fund? Does this include someone who is 15 who gets a career ending injury that forces them to not be able to perform certain jobs, what sort of payout do they get? Once you start looking at it like this, you realise it gets complicated very quickly.
Jimbo Jones
Guest
Genuine question here - is there anything stopping a player from insuring themselves against injury/permanent disability? I understand that the NRL should have something in place, but given the risks should the players have taken this into their own hands? I
MAX
Guest
Try web nswsportiginjuries.com.au It appears the central coast had advanced faster than Moore Park
AR
Guest
Prior to the Alex McKinnon incident, I had no idea that the NRL had no insurance scheme for its players. In a sport like rugby league - in 2014 - it just beggars belief. Completely agree with the author - an emergency fund should be set up immediately and financing changes made so that it is accounted for each year. The Statute of Limitations could probably be the ordinary 6 years...though with concussion studies from the US, all contact sports may be liable for injuries which appear later in life.