The NRL would give clubs up to $1m in salary cap relief for luring international or rival code players to the sport under a bold proposal being considered at Rugby League Central.
As revealed by Sun-Herald columnist Danny Weidler over the weekend, the NRL has hatched a plan to combat Rugby Australia’s mooted raid of NRL talent. It is mulling over an audacious plan to target the talent-rich homes of the world champion Springboks and the Pumas, and will even look as far as the US.
The plot, which was hatched by NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo and ARLC chairman Peter V’landys when they came into power a couple of years ago, is far more detailed than a revenge attack on Rugby Australia.
The NRL has discussed providing clubs with up to $1m in salary cap relief if they sign players from outside the Australian, New Zealand and English rugby league systems.
It was discussed at a board meeting last year but has been put on the backburner due to the complex and protracted collective bargaining agreement negotiations with the Rugby League Players’ Association over the past six to 12 months.
The initial plan was to try and encourage clubs to scout talent out of rugby union pathways in South Africa and Argentina. The NRL also want NRL talent scouts to look into the American college system to identify undrafted talent searching for an opportunity after missing out on an NFL contract.
Two targets of rugby leagues’ proposed counter-raid on rugby: Max Jorgensen and Suliasi Vunivalu, with Peter V’landys (centre). Credit: Getty
The NRL is of the opinion that if it can lure an established player from a country like South Africa, Argentina or the United States, it can help the code grow into a new market.
Rugby Australia boss Hamish McLennan, meanwhile, has rubbished the plan.
Instead of recoiling in horror at the thought of further sacking of rugby nurseries by league scouts, RA chairman McLennan has cheekily offered to open his contact book to help the NRL.
“I thought the scary league guys didn’t care about rugby union,” McLennan said. “Like we’ve always said, it’s a free market, but this shows how worried they are by the resurgence in rugby. It’s quite outstanding, really.”
“I reckon they’ve got buckley’s in those markets. They’ll be total snobs with league and would look down on it. But go for it.”
Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan
The NRL’s plot to find players in America is all part of the code’s campaign to play a game in the US to open next year.
The NRL believes having a player from a foreign market can have a similar impact to what Hazem El Masri did for Lebanese immigrants during his career at the Bulldogs.
McLennan responded with yet another barb about rugby league’s limited overseas footprint.
“They’ll probably need to get their passports reissued because I know they don’t travel much,” he said, before adding: “I hope they go there. I think they’ll have fantastic success. I’ll give them all the names and numbers of who to call.
The player who sparked the frenzy, Joseph Sua’ali’i has signed to play rugby from the end of the 2024 NRL season.Credit: NRL Photos
“I reckon they’ve got Buckley’s in those markets. They’ll be total snobs with league and would look down on it. But go for it. They should call the famous [Pumas No.10] Gus Pichot in Argentina and [SA Rugby president] Mark Alexander in South Africa and let them go for it.”
The NRL’s plan has come to light since Joseph Sua’ali’i’s defection, which has stirred up considerable angst in rugby league circles.
McLennan and V’landys have traded barbs for weeks since, with the former confirming further raids on NRL clubs were on the cards. The game’s top stars, such as Cameron Murray, Payne Haas, Nathan Cleary, Angus Crichton and Will Penisini, have all made McLennan’s wishlist.
NRL greats Andrew Johns, Brad Fittler and Billy Slater weighed in on Sunday, with Johns calling rugby union’s mooted raid a “laughable” concept.
“There’s no threat. Payne Haas won’t go to rugby. See they’re chasing Nathan Cleary. Laughable,” he said. “Why would you want to go play rugby union? Touch the ball three times.
“Who’s the boss? Whatever his name is. Everything I see he says ‘come to union, you’ll see the world’. If you want to see the world, I’ll pay for a Contiki tour, you’ll have more fun. Payne Haas will run the ball three times.”
Johns was himself on the verge of making his own defection in 2004, revealing last month he was set to sign with the Waratahs after a key meeting with then-Wallabies coach Eddie Jones. He referenced the decision again on Nine’s Footy Show.
“I was tempted for a while, don’t know what I was thinking. It was just another stage of my life [I thought] ‘where was my head at’,” he said.
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