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Jim Morton,
AAP
October 16, 2013, 12:26 pm
The Wallabies are poised to accept pay cuts to help stop the cash-strapped code going broke.
A new Collective Bargaining Agreement is set to end the days of Australian players earning a guaranteed $14,000 per Test - win, lose or draw.
The Australian Rugby Union's survival is at stake as it sits in a perilous financial position after recording a $19 million deficit in the past two years and a worrying slump in support for the 15-man game.
The Wallabies' dismal results this year - winning just three of their nine Tests to drop to No.4 in the world - have also impacted on attendances and sponsorship.
In eight months since replacing John O'Neill as ARU chief executive, Bill Pulver, in his own words, has "brutally attacked the cost base" by making cuts across the board.
Even a welcome windfall from the British and Irish Lions tour in winter won't get the ARU out of the hole dug by years of over-expenditure, largely with executive salaries.
Pulver has already slashed employee numbers at the ARU and also made significant cutbacks to the high-performance unit and shelved the national academies in Brisbane and Sydney.
"My first six months at the ARU a lot of my time has been spent ripping costs out of the place basically," Pulver told AAP. "It's not been a lot of fun but it's been a very important cleansing experience.
"From a financial perspective we're going to be skating on thin ice for the next couple of years.
"Can we get through? Yes, we can. Is it going to be bloody hard? Yes, it is."
Warnings of cuts to club rugby have made Pulver, looking to develop a new third-tier national competition, unpopular in club circles but he's making no apologies for taking drastic measures for the good of the game.
A reduction of player salaries has firmly been on the agenda and should be revealed in the next two months when a new CBA, the first since 2005, is expected to be finalised.
The ARU board meets on Monday to discuss ongoing negotiations with the Rugby Union Players Association.
Both Pulver and RUPA boss Greg Harris confirmed Test match payments - which would currently see a Wallaby earn $196,000 if he played all 15 Tests this year on top of his salary - were among issues being addressed.
Former World Cup-winning skipper Nick Farr-Jones has led calls for incentive-based pay, claiming Wallabies should be paid far less for defeats.
Harris said the players union were taking a conciliatory approach to ensure the game didn't go under.
"Player directors (RUPA) have been united in their commitment in trying to assist the game in trying to confront the financial issues," Harris told AAP.
The last time a new CBA was drafted, in 2005, the code was in rude health with $35 million in the ARU war chest and crowd numbers which had it challenging rugby league as the nation's No.2 code.
Harris hinted top players benefited from a generous deal in the prosperous times.
"My predecessor (Tony Dempsey) did a very good job of negotiating for the players when the dams were full and there was plenty of water around but we have a drought at the moment so we all have to drink a little bit less," he said.
"The players are being very responsible."
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/spo...-to-help-code/
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Harris said the players are responsible drinkers
of water
"Years of over-expenditure, largely with executive salaries"
Snouts in the trough as usual. Greedy, lazy bastards![]()
Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby
"We have a warchest..."
A line that was common after the 2003 RWC and it seems it has all been pissed up the wall
It sucks donkey's that the players have to accept less money because of the greedy, overindulgent excesses of past executives!
Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby
to be honest they do get paid to much money 14k per game crazy
“Everyone knows whether it’s rugby, politics or whatever, front-rowers should rule the world, so to have a hooker at the helm makes sense,” Nathan Charles Western Force & Wallabies Hooker.
I reckon they should have different pay rates against different teams - maybe based on IRB ranking?)
$30K for a win against the All Blacks (or highest IRB Ranked Opposition)
$20K for a win against the Spring Boks (or second highest IRB Ranked Opposition)
$10K for a win against anyone else
A loss gets you "expenses" only
thrown in an additional payment to the squad for away games?
thrown in an additional payment to the squad for taking/keeping a trophy?
Dear Lord, if you give us back Johnny Cash, we'll give you Justin Bieber.
14k per test is $175 per minute (based on 80 minutes).
Makes it seem worse...
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So JO'N almost screw Australian Rugby before he left and he got payed out when he left.
What a waste of space he was to the ARU.
May the FORCE be with you!
Remember an article a while back that said his salary was about 900 grand
Wests Scarborough 1st Grade juggernaut has played finals rugby each and every year since its inception and continues this remarkable feat yet again this season and unbelievably it's still rolling on and as an added little circle jerk for the masses Wests actually hold the record for the current longest unbroken finals record.