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Penrith co-captain Isaah Yeo says there has been a breakdown in trust between the players and the NRL in recent weeks capped off by Tuesday’s bombshell news that the league was accused of secretly recording meetings.
The Rugby League Players’ Association, of which Yeo is the delegate for the Panthers, is locked in discussions with the NRL over the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement after a stalemate that has dragged on for more than a year.
Relations between the two parties hit a new low this week when an investigation by the Sydney Morning Herald reported that a meeting, held last Friday between NRL CEO Andrew Abdo and representatives of the playing group, was secretay recorded by an official acting upon orders from an NRL executive.
The official was discovered, prompting RLPA CEO Clint Newton to confront Abdo and for RLPA chief Deirdre Anderson to send a letter to ARL chair Peter V’landys that accused the official of covertly recording the session.
“We’ve heard about that and it’s another breakdown in trust, really,” said Yeo, who is the first player to publicly comment on the issue.
“It’s come out now and the tension is already there. The RLPA, over the last few years, have had to audit to get the money that the players are entitled to as well and they found an extra $20m. So it’s not the first time this has happened.
“There’s been little breakdowns in trust that’s creating tension between the groups. I think the RLPA has sent something to Peter (V’landys), they’ll get it sorted.”
Players could be set to escalate industrial action against the NRL, with a new CBA submitted to the league. Should it fail to be accepted, Yeo refused to rule out the potential of strike action.
“The RLPA board have come back and presented a CBA to the NRL and give them a deadline until the end of Thursday, so we’re waiting to see what happens from that and we go from there.
(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
“It’s taking a while with a bit of tit for tat both ways. The RLPA are doing their best for the players and we’re all behind that. We’ve given them a chance until Thursday and then if we have to take more action as a group we’ll do that.
“It’s taking too long and we’ll see how it goes next Thursday, and if we have to take more action then we will. . If things keep breaking down as they are and we don’t get resolutions, that (strikes) are the absolute extreme. The players don’t want to get to it, we all want to play football. I’m sure it’ll be sorted out before.”
Yeo was insistent that the dispute was not about player’s pay, but instead about conditions.
“It feels like some parts of the media are pushing the NRL’s case and saying we’re greedy, but it’s simply not the case,” he said.
“We’re trying to look after each other not just through football but post-football as well. There’s a lot that goes into it and I feel like the people coming out and saying stuff don’t have their heads wrapped around it fully.
“Clint is trying to do a job to present what the players are after: it’s not just about money, it’s about looking after each other away from football once it’s all done. If you’re lucky it’s a ten year career in rugby league and after that it’s all done.
“You’d like to think that it doesn’t stop there and you get looked after a little bit longer as well with injuries and stuff like that. It gets perceived in a lot of different way, but we’re not being greedy, we’re trying to look after one another.”