Cronulla stars Nicho Hynes and Dale Finucane have a response for anyone labelling players “greedy” in the ongoing CBA war — “it’s got nothing to do with the salary cap”.
The NRL announced its salary cap for the next five years in December, a move which angered the playing group who had not yet signed off on the new collective bargaining agreement.
The RLPA also reportedly were only informed of the details of the new cap hours before the shock announcement came.
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The NRL’s salary cap is $12.1 million in 2023, a record figure and a significant increase from $9.6 million in 2022, with a rise in the minimum salary for top 30 players to $120,000.
NRLW sides have also been given a salary cap increase to $884,000 in 2023, although no season start date or length has yet been confirmed.
Clubs have since pulled out of NRL media shoots, and Broncos gun Kurt Capewell refused to rule out a player strike if the new CBA terms cannot be met.
Players then took their protests online in a co-ordinated move, standing as a “united” front against the NRL before the RLPA’s Instagram page explained what the playing group was fighting for.
A new medical support fund, the NRLW’s first ever CBA, increased wages and minimum salaries for vulnerable players, a refreshed past players program, agreement rights and an improved injury hardship fund are among the unsolved issues in the current CBA being negotiated.
How much players are earning though is not one of them according to the current Dally M Medallist.
“The fans didn’t get a whole lot of understanding straight away of what we were talking about, then we as a group have combined and tried to start educating more,” Hynes said to Foxsports.com.au.
“The RLPA are doing an outstanding job and the whole playing group now, we are so connected like never before, it is just unreal to see.
“What I would say to fans, it has got nothing to do with the salary cap, it’s more the injury hardships for players like Aaron Booth, who was about to negotiate a top 30 contract and he gets injured and can’t play and he’s left with nothing.
“Luckily, the Titans have sorted a really good deal for him and kept him there, but players like that who could easily be out of the game forever, and not have any injury hardship fund.
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“Someone in the workforce, who gets injured on a worksite they get workers compensation and then they are sorted.
“Someone does their back on a job site, they are sorted, they get paid for the next however long, we don’t get that.”
Finucane also bristled at the idea players are being “greedy” after former Manly enforcer Noel ‘Crusher’ Cleal spoke out about his opinions of the ongoing debate.
“I completely disagree and it is to do with the fact that people are uninformed about what the players are actually after,” Finucane said to Foxsports.com.au.
“I think if they had the full picture of things, they would see the side of the players, and the NRL have obviously put forward a salary cap.
“Being a CBA, it is a collective bargaining agreement where all parties agree to it together and done in good faith, and it is obviously disappointing that the NRL have just put forward what the salary cap is going to be without consultation with all the stakeholders of the game.
“Where the misconception of the public comes from is that they see that there is a percentage increase for us as players.
“When you look at the CBA side-by-side, from the 2018 agreement, to our new CBA starting in the 2023 season, you’ll actually see we are going backwards in a number of areas.
“If you actually see what the players are asking for, you’ll see it is quite reasonable considering the NRL has increased as well.”
Under the current CBA agreement, players have only 12 months post-retirement to have any surgeries and rehabilitation paid.
The RLPA is pushing hard for a new medical support fund to look after ex-players, and multiple former stars have been vocal about their own injury hardships after a career in the NRL.
Joe Galuvao, Eric Grothe Jr and Jason Stevens all revealed their own struggled last week, while Beau Ryan, who retired at 29 due to a neck injury, also explained the playing group are “trying to protect themselves and future generations”.
Hynes revealed that his former teammate Andrew Fifita, who retired from the NRL last season, has only 12 months to have four major surgeries under the current CBA.
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“Players like Andrew Fifita who has just finished and he has got to get four surgeries, and he has to do it in the first 12 months otherwise the NRL don’t support or pay for it,” Hynes said.
“Imagine trying to get four big surgeries in the one year and then you won’t be able to walk down the street with his kids, he can’t pick his kids up because he has been through four surgeries.
“They need their Dad around to do day to day things, just things like that.”
“There are some past players that have come out recently talking about how, 15 years retired and there isn’t a day that goes by without something that niggles or pains them as a result of playing rugby league,” Finucane added.
“If we can honour those that played before us and help them out so they aren’t lost to the game after they have left, that’s something we’d love to do as a playing group.
“There’s a number of other things that the NRL aren’t coming to the table with.
“Shining the increased salary cap, but taking away in a number of other areas, but that is not even before we go into the women’s game, they are obviously trying to sign contracts and work out how long their season is.”
The playing group also want to have a say in decisions regarding changes to the game’s rules, and Hynes explained that if the boss of a trade company made decisions behind the work’s backs they’d also be frustrated.
“We want to be able to be a part of making decisions, they can’t just keep changing the rules on us, we are the ones out there playing it, it is our bodies,” Hynes said.
“The game is already fast enough and they just want to keep changing rules and we don’t have a say on that.
“These are just little things that the fans don’t understand, we aren’t being greedy at all, we just want what’s fair for the playing group.
“Because we are the ones going out there putting our bodies on the line each week and obviously the fans are loving what we are doing, it’s just not all about the money.
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“People need to have a long hard think, we are doing it to make this great game greater.
“We want to look after the players who have been through hell with their bodies and to make sure they are looked after, once their career is done too.
“So many people are saying to us so many wrong things like ‘you are lucky to be doing what you’re doing’, yeah we are lucky, but we worked extremely hard to get here.
“We didn’t chose your workforce, if something was unfair there you’d speak up and if you got offered more money you’d take it too.
“If your CEO was doing things behind your back you’d be kicking up a stink too, we are just sticking up for what we believe in and we respect the fans decision, but we aren’t going to budge on this.”
