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ROCHDALE – Kangaroos hooker Harry Grant has accused the game’s powerbrokers of lowballing its athletes as the Rugby League Players’ Association’s standoff with the NRL over the collective bargaining agreement heats up.
Despite the previous CBA expiring on November 1, the players are yet to agree on a new deal despite months of negotiations and clubs remain in limbo over the size of their squads and salary cap for the 2023 season.
RLPA CEO Clint Newton is also annoyed the players have no clarity around minimum wage and revenue-sharing aspects of the agreement.
Grant, who is an almost certain selection for this weekend’s World Cup semi against New Zealand, is bemused about the negotiations.
“I’ve got strong thoughts (and) for us as players it’s our livelihood,” he said. “We just need to get something sorted for everyone’s sake.
(Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
“We’ve put enough into this game, for what we get out of it they are lowballing us at the moment the NRL. The RLPA do a great job and have negotiated pretty fairly.”
Grant was particularly concerned for players at the lower end of the pay scale.
“Everyone thinks you’re playing NRL and you’re on good coin, but the reality is that you’re not,” he said. “You have a lot of expenses along the way (especially) if you have to move away from home to chase your dream.
“I think a development contract is $60,000. Some blokes would be better off going to work on the tools.”
Reagan Campbell-Gillard remains under a major injury cloud ahead of Australia’s semi-final with New Zealand after he trained alone on Monday morning (UK time).
The Parramatta prop came off in the final pool game against Italy with a bad cork in his leg, and missed last week’s win over Lebanon as a result.
With the Kiwis boasting perhaps the most fearsome pack in the tournament, Mal Meninga will need his biggest man on deck to bolster a forward group that has favoured agility over size.
New Zealand are ranked first in the world, but Kangaroos captain James Tedesco has declared that his side will have no respect for the rankings when they meet in Leeds on Friday evening (Saturday morning AEDT)
“I don’t think that really means much at this time,” said the fullback. “We see ourselves as the best so we are going out to play like that. We have that expectation that when we put that Australian jersey on, that we are going to win. I don’t think the rankings mean much to us.”
Samoa were on top of the world yesterday, but came back with a bump after a day of chaos in the camp.
It began with Junior Paulo, their inspirational captain, who was given a one-match ban by the Match Review Panel after being found guilty of striking Tonga back-rower David Fifita. He may yet appeal the charge.
Then, coach Matt Parish slapped a media ban on his entire squad, refusing interviews in the lead up to the biggest game in their international history against hosts England on Saturday at the Emirates Stadium in London.
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Parish has bristled at the media throughout, challenging journalists after their win over France, asking: “Are you going to write the truth tonight?”
In yesterday’s media conference following their win over perennial rivals Tonga, Parish said that he hadn’t watched any England games apart from his own side’s crushing defeat to Shaun Wane’s men on the opening day.
“England were unreal that day, we were pretty ordinary, we’ve moved on,” he said. “I’ve only watched one game to be fair. But they’ve been pretty good. They’re the home nation and they’re down to last four, they’ve won convincingly in all four games.”
(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
The chat linking England backrower John Bateman with a return to the NRL refuses to go away, with the Wigan man continually rumoured to be joining the Wests Tigers.
Bateman bristled at talk of a transfer when it was brought up in a England presser last week ahead of their win over PNG, and was asked again by Fox Sports after the game.
“I’ll sort out what I need to sort out after the World Cup and the decision will come then,” he said.
“I’ve got a contract at Wigan and rumours are rumours, but it’s always good to be liked – I don’t care what you say. I’ve got a World Cup to focus on and that’s what I am going to be focusing on, I’ll answer the questions after the World Cup.”