Can we all just take a moment to acknowledge that what we are facing at the moment is totally unprecedented.
Sure, we’ve been through market crashes and major health scares before, but a global pandemic that has shut down pretty much the entire world hasn’t been seen for… well, it’s never been seen like this, has it?
Maybe the Spanish influenza of 1918 is close but then think how much the world has changed in the last 100 years – how much more interconnected we are, as well as all the technological advancement that’s occurred – even that is no longer super relevant.
Anyway, my point is we’re in uncharted territory here. So can everyone put their pitchforks down?
We need to stop using a global shutdown due to a virus that could kill as many as 150,000 Australians and tens of millions across the world as evidence of people having been fiscally irresponsible.
Sure, it would be better if the NRL had $450 million in their future fund instead of the estimated $70 million that’s there, but how disingenuous was Joey Leilua being last week when he said, “They (the NRL) should be saving money for if something like this happens.”
Something like this? A World Health Organisation-declared pandemic that has seen the NRL join the likes of the NBA, English Premier League and the WTA and ATP in suspending proceedings.
The NRL should have been prepared for this?
“I thought they were handling their money better, but if they say we’re going to last three months, we’re in trouble,” the new Tigers recruit continued.
I’m sure it won’t be the first or last time he hears this, but Joey, stop being a dickhead.
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Seriously, how was that chat supposed to go down? “Hey Todd, do we have enough money in the coffers to prop up every single club in case the entire competition is forced to shut down for an undetermined period of time due to a deadly disease that sweeps the whole planet?”
Ask that question even a few months ago and a cuckoo clock would have magically appeared behind you and sounded, just so everyone in the room knew how bonkers you were.
There’s nothing about this that should have been planned for.
And therefore, how hypocritical is it for players to expect the NRL to have planned to prop them up because, as Leilua put it, “We’ve got mortgages to pay and bills to pay.”
Joey, do you mean to say you only have enough cash reserves to get through the next three months? What happened to “saving money for if something like this happens”?
What’s more, didn’t the NRL and RLPA make a big song and dance a few years ago about making the players partners in the game?
In late 2017, an agreement was reached, which Todd Greenberg called “a true partnership to take the game forward”, while RLPA CEO Ian Prendergast hailed it as “an outstanding deal for the entire game”.
“For the first time in the history of the sport, the interests of players, the NRL, clubs and states will be aligned – incentivising all parties to work together in taking this great game forward,” Prendergast said.
If the players are genuine about being partners in taking this great game forward, then it’s time to walk the walk.
Revenue is going to cop a serious hiding over the coming 12 or so months. And that means all partners – including the players, whose contracts make up some $150 million each year – should anticipate a drop in their take home.
It’s not hypothetical either – the Queensland and NSW Cups had both already been suspended and while we don’t hear much about the lower grades, they’re worth millions of dollars each year. People’s livelihoods are already taking a massive hit in the rugby league partnership.
What’s more, it’s not a case of anyone looking to do the dodgy on the players. The NRL aren’t about to go to the clubs and ask for their top 30 players to sacrifice a bit of their salary because the game is enjoying an upswing in profits.
Money is going down due to a completely unforeseen and unforeseeable set of circumstances. Fiscal management could have been better, but the best way to have saved money would have been putting a freeze on the salary cap a few seasons ago.
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
The players wanting more in their pockets is a big part of the reason the game doesn’t have more in the future fund. So for the players to expect full payment of all contracts over this lean time – more when things are good, more when things are bad – means they were never serious about being partners.
Of course, if they continue to take, the NRL could go bust and the players will end up as partners in an insolvent business. Should that occur, contracts for years to come will be void and the players will end up losing out on hundreds of millions in total.
What’s more, when the next rugby league comp is set up – because another rugby league comp will eventually emerge, there’s literally billions to be made from this code – the new administrators will know better than to make the players partners again.
Everyone is going to be doing it tough in the months to come, so to expect you’ll be unaffected because you’ve got a contract and the business – any business – that employs you “should be saving money for if something like this happens” is either naïve or greedy (when your salary is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, I’d suggest it’s the latter).
For NRL players, now’s the time to show that you are genuine partners. The game’s earnings will be down, so you should be prepared for your earnings to be down. That’s how partnerships work – you all tighten your belts in the tough times.
It’s not bad business that has seen the NRL end up in this situation. But it would be bad business for a significant partner in the game to continue taking the same amount out of a diminishing pot while everyone else takes a hit.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
It's wise to be as far ahead as you can and forgo a few luxuries, I'm not saying it in hindsight I've been boring people for years with the old fashioned view of making sure you're in as strong a position as possible in case things go wobbly. It's not as if the banks are going to come the raw prawn at the moment either. Throwing as much as you can at a mortgage in the early years is smart in several ways.
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
How far ahead would someone be on a 2 year old mortgage? A month?
Nick
Roar Guru
And it's financially ruinous to the code... They are franchises that are even more dependent on the meagre TV coin than the NRL is.
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
Super rugby is probably the closest thing to a global league. And it is still missing half the major countries.
ojp
Guest
as long as they learn to pull together only to within 1.5 meters :thumbup: There is another observation to be made about pulling together but I try to avoid the low brow (mostly)
Walter White
Guest
The other thing to think about is this Imagine we are in lockdown til November There is then no RL because it is the off season and the NRL has collapsed Early in the new year, this new global comp starts up and is being shown on Amazon Prime No RL in Australia because the authorities are still squabbling over money / rights / everything else they always squabble over plus the fact that all the best players are now playing for the new global teams. How many RL starved Australians do you think might tune into this new competition ?
Nick
Roar Guru
Sorry, I forget your degree in common sense trumps reason. Care to share your latest insights into how to handle the virus outbreak? And whether the NRL should continue? Or what about more of your economic theory? You should ask ScoMo for a gig when this crisis passes... you clearly have better business sense than the experts. Although, I will concede you can probably run the NRL better than the chimps who ran it now.
Walter White
Guest
Wow, you are really stuck in your little Weltanschauung aren't you. I proffered my Global alternative to Don's (and numerous others) constant rehash and speculation about what form of "back to the future" type league structure we could have. In my view, the global scenario I spoke about is every bit as plausible as half of the fanciful wish lists being thrown up by many. In fact, the longer this goes on and the weaker the NRL becomes the more plausible that some global organisation could step in and pick through the bones of our comp. If businessmen can see potential in starting clubs in Ottowa, Toronto and New York and playing in a foreign competition starting in division 3, what greater potential do you think they might see here ? In my scenario, I suggested that a consortium might pick through the bones of the NRL because the NRL and league clubs here are highly vulnerable. They aren't going to go after pro football, soccor or union because globally they are far stronger and will survive. RL be contrast would be ideal for an opportunist - weak (potentially fatally) badly run organisation with superb product, good market penetration in small market, very poor almost none existent marketing, massive opportunity for growth with even tiny percentage of global market. Sorry if I burst your bubble.
Big Daddy
Guest
Here's another scenario that may raise its ugly head. When the football does come back and players may have to renegotiate their contracts. For example will South's honour the Jai Arrow contract be its full amount or will it need to be renegotiated. Every One says the players have home loans to service the same as everyone else. One thing is for sure the Banks won't be halving or reducing loan amounts so there could be lots of homes on the market. That's the only thing that some players may have reason to complain about but everyone is in the same boat.
Nick
Roar Guru
Rugby league sits about 35th on the hit list for Amazon Prime. Try every major US pro and college league, and most European football leagues before they look at Rugby league. And you STILL haven't addressed the key issue... no one watches the club challenge. Stadiums are half full, no one cares. No neutral fan will watch the Roosters play Toronto at 3am. I cannot think of any global league in existence right now in a team sport. And you think Amazon Prime with their bottomless pit of money would prioritise rugby league over something FAR more attainable like a global soccer league, which would capture an actual global audience?
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
Most players should be well ahead on their repayments like the rest of the population as interest rates kept on going down. The ones who aren't can defer payments for a fair while or pay less I'm sure.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
Who are you speaking for if not yourself?
Walter White
Guest
"I’m not speaking for myself when I say this – if St George were to go under, my active interest in rugby league ends there and then" You see, right there is the problem. Its a very Aussie problem (the ESL fans will watch the GF/Challenge Cup Final/WCC no matter what team gets there). Its a problem where we are very inward looking. If a consortium/Amazon Prime were going to get involved with a global venture like this, they wouldn't care too hoots about your interest or whether St George exist or not. They would be going after a very different audience and globally there is a lot of interest in Rugby League right now. Whilst the ESL weren't thinking too much about Australia, their conclusion was that a global comp wasn't as daft as it might first appear.
Mark Scarfe
Roar Guru
I don't think the players are partners with the NRL nor do they want to be. Self interest outweighs the greater good. The negotiations over how much they will be paid while the game faces its greatest crisis show that.
RoarMan
Guest
Well I am not going to defend Joe Leilua but considering only 2 rounds of the season played I would imagine a paycut of 10-20% would be about right. Why are we hearing 50% from the NRL. Is there something I am missing here.
Nick
Roar Guru
And mostly they will still play anyway, because they like playing, which they always did, before they started getting paid to do it. Nah, that's not true for all. Islanders players play for love but primarily for financial reasons - their income doesn't just cover them, but their wider family as well both in Australia and abroad. Many wouldn't continue playing if they were doing it for free.
Flexis
Roar Rookie
Absolute poetry Tim. Missed your calling. Best of luck to you and your comrades.
Nick
Roar Guru
And yet - Joey Leilua still hasnt walked the comment back...
Nick
Roar Guru
We have a nasty habit of over analysing every aspect and possibility in our game and completely ignore anything that might come from outside. Buy in of fans will happen wherever the best players in the world are playing the best football. Yeah...nah. If that was the case then you'd get packed houses for the world club challenge every year, but you don't. The Roosters are one of the best teams assembled in the NRL era. They have some of the worlds best players in their starting XIII. Still can't draw anymore than 12k a game. Storm can't get full houses and they've been dominant for a decade. Manly can't get full houses. The Rabbitohs even during their peak in 2013-2015 got at most 20k a game. No one - repeat - no one will give two figs about one of the most contrived ideas out there, especially if it means their club isn't in it. I'm not speaking for myself when I say this - if St George were to go under, my active interest in rugby league ends there and then. I'd maintain a casual interest, but I wouldn't be compelled to attend a game live, I'd probably watch the odd game on TV here and there. I'm not old by any means, but I've invested enough time, funds and emotion in the Dragons to not be bothered following another team.
Walter White
Guest
There is nothing to stop a small local franchise from operating in Aus or England or wherever but if some Global Consortium has just cherry picked your best teams and in a vacuum (so those teams cherry pick the best players) and are then paid at a premium to whatever a crippled 9 / fox cough up, it won't be much of a local comp. We have a nasty habit of over analysing every aspect and possibility in our game and completely ignore anything that might come from outside. Buy in of fans will happen wherever the best players in the world are playing the best football.