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The NRL needs to introduce a free agency period for 2020

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Roar Rookie
27th June, 2019
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Player movement between NRL clubs mid-season has become quite common.

You have your out-of-favour stars who are looking for opportunities, fringe first graders who are looking for more game time and some players looking to secure their futures beyond the current season.

Meanwhile, it’s mandatory for every NRL club to fill and finalise their 30-man roster.

To be fair, I’m not opposed to players seeking opportunity elsewhere or securing their futures, I think if negotiated before the June 30 deadline that it should be your right as a player to seek an opportunity if it presents itself. What I am concerned about, though, is the trend of players signing contracts a year in advance from November 1 when clubs are eligible to negotiate with a player still under contract.

And then for the weird situation of supporting a player playing out their final contract season, knowing they have signed a multi-year deal elsewhere and knowing they were leaving for over 18 months.

RLPA Boss Ian Prendergast stated in November 2018 that “The free labour market is something that past players and the association have fought hard to establish.”

He also stated, “Together with the salary cap, it has served the game well in providing players with a fundamental right to choose their employer and helping balance talent relatively evenly across the competition.”

We cannot argue that fact; since 1998 when the NRL was established we have had 12 different club premiership winners and we have not seen a back-to-back premiership winning team since the all-conquering Brisbane Broncos side of 92-93 in the NSWRL. So yes, the salary cap has distributed talent across NRL teams and we have had multiple premiership-winning sides.

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Yes, the free labour market is great for players who are looking for an opportunity, a fringe first grader that can secure a position or their futures. Think of Kodi Nokorima from Brisbane Broncos to New Zealand Warriors and James Roberts from Brisbane to South Sydney, who were recently moved by their teams before the June 30th deadline.

So the question has to be asked from the game and its major stakeholders, us, the true loyal fans. Why is there a market for players deciding to leave a year in advance? In most recent times, the marquee signings that come to mind are James Maloney in 2011 signing for the Sydney Roosters for 2013, Kaylyn Ponga signing for Newcastle in 2016 for the 2018 season and recently, Angus Crighton signing with the Sydney Roosters in 2017. He played out the whole 2018 season with arch rivals South Sydney, lost in the preliminary final to the team we have known he is leaving for in 18 months.

It just doesn’t seem right.

See the fans love the players, they’re invested in their development and career arcs, they back them in their workplaces, online forums and their everyday pub conversation, so why would we create such an awkward situation?

I just want you to imagine a world where LeBron James signs for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2016 after winning an NBA championship in Cleveland, their first home town title in 51 years, but plays a full season with Cleveland after the fact. Exactly, the answer is no, the fans would be outraged.

Lakers LeBron James

(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

Same thing if this was to occur in European Football, or even in the NFL, and yet we somehow accept this as the norm in the NRL.

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If Kodi Nikorima and James Roberts can up and leave their clubs within a few days and play for a different club the same week, surely the NRL and the RLPA can introduce a free agency period where, player agents, recruitment officers, clubs and fans can focus on player movement. We can look on and watch as media outlets report how teams manage their salary cap over a 14-day window of player movement, heaven or hell.

We can either celebrate in the jubilation of a new recruit or tear our hair out as the salary cap has been spent on a multi-year deal on a lemon. The more rugby league news in the offseason the better for the game, and I’m not referring to the last offseason from hell.

Freedom of movement can be managed easier in the offseason. Players can move to a different state or country and adjust with the club’s assistance.

For the sponsors of clubs, they can show off their marquee acquisition in a big press conference to unveil their new recruits, or even at their home stadium with their fans. Wow, god forbid we involve them. You might even be able to sell more season ticket memberships.

The idea is simple, it is very similar to the NBA’s free agency period; two weeks following from the NRL grand final – mid-October to November 1 – players are now able to negotiate their new contracts with any NRL club if they’re a free agent. NRL recruitment and retention managers will have their spreadsheets that show their salary cap flexibility (Des Hasler, please no back ended deals in your spready).

While the player agents can advise what the players are looking for and from there fit the pieces around their current rosters. Players are not allowed to negotiate contracts prior to this period and from June 1 to June 30 around Origin time the window is open for mid-season transfers.

A term that gets thrown around from the players is that “the NRL is now a business these days”. Well, I think the current administration with the assistance of the RPLA need to look into this part of the game so that from preseason up until the grand final, we as fans can truly focus on the game itself and we can leave the free agent frenzy to the end of the season.

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