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The NRL’s players are prepared to shun game-day media commitments for months and will not rule out further strike action as part of drastic measures the rugby league players association hopes will lead to a resolution in laggard collective bargaining agreement talks with the NRL.
Media strikes announced by the RLPA at an emergency press conference on Wednesday mean players will boycott post-match press conferences from round 19 and until further notice, including after Wednesday’s final State of Origin match.
Men’s and women’s players will not engage in pre-match, halftime or post-match interviews on game day and have been instructed not to take calls from journalists.
The NRL’s coaches are still expected to front the media as normal, with players available on days when games are not played.
The RLPA says these conditions will remain in place until the completion of a draft CBA, until the warring NRL and PA meet with an industrial relations mediator and until player benefits and support payments return to pre-COVID levels agreed under the previous CBA.
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
More than 50 players from the 17 clubs met on Tuesday night to discuss the laggard CBA, now eight months overdue, with chief executive Clint Newton saying the players were prepared to take more action if their demands were not met.
“Our leadership group met and they discussed that this could go on,” he said.
“Players are reasonable but ultimately we have to put everything on the table for the players, we have to work through the process.
“Ultimately, it was a player-led decision and we are right behind it.
“We are hopeful and we remain optimistic about reaching an agreement.”
In total, the warring parties have been negotiating the new CBA for 20 months, with the current agreement only able to roll over until October 31 of this year.
The RLPA had been hopeful of reaching an agreement with the NRL by the end of May after presenting the league with a settlement proposal midway through that month.
But talks once again hit an impasse over disagreements to several of the more than 100 items listed in the CBA.
The RLPA believes the NRL has given them a “take it or leave it” ultimatum to proposed amendments to the settlement proposal.
The RLPA says it has not demanded any more money since December last year but claims the NRL is pushing to determine how the player’s share of revenue is allocated to the RLPA and its programs, including the medical support fund and injury hardship fund.
The RLPA also claims the NRL wants ownership and access of player data, including medical information, and to be able to introduce more games without approval from the PA.
Privately, the NRL believes it has been willing to come to the table on the RLPA’s demands and that it has acted in good faith throughout the protracted discussions.
Abdo and Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys have been reluctant to engage in a public war-of-words with the RLPA.
South Sydney prop Thomas Burgess, a member of the RLPA player advisory group, was confident fans would still feel connected to the players despite the extent of the media blackout.
“This is not about turning our back on the fans at all,” Burgess said.
“We’ve got our social media, we’re involved in that. I think personally Souths have taken a lot of games on the road, we’re going to Perth, we’re going to Cairns, the Sunshine Coast.
“We want a deal done, we want to go back to normal. But we’ve been backed into a corner here.”
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