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ARU finances leave players unclear on future
Wayne Smith
The Australian
April 29, 2014 12:00AM
THE Australian Rugby Union’s contracting process has effect*ively stalled, with a dozen players *offered Wallabies contracts making no move to sign them, despite the lure of playing in the World Cup next year.
The harsh realities of Australian rugby’s dire financial position are starting to hit home, with players being made offers in some cases up to $100,000 lower than when they previously negotiated their existing contracts.
Although under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, players are entitled to 26 per cent of player-generated revenue, the ARU at one point was overpaying on players’ salaries to the tune of 32 per cent. Such largesse is out of the question now, with the ARU battling to stay afloat for another 18 months until the new and hopefully improved SANZAR broadcast deal kicks in.
“The players are at the point where they can’t get their heads around what is being offered,” one Super Rugby coach told The Australian. “Do I think they’re all going to leave? No, because the lure of playing for the Wallabies, especially in a World Cup, is still a very strong (one).”
There is also the added uncertainty from the players’ perspective of not knowing precisely what manner of competition they will be playing in from 2016 or whether their Australian franchises will actually be able to pay them if SANZAR goes ahead with its plans to expand to a 17- or 18-team competition.
Research conducted for the Rugby Union Players Association by external consultants Global Media and Sports paints a gloomy picture of the financial impact of such a competition, most especially on the damage that would be caused to Australian franchises if they lost one local derby match every two seasons. That would entail a financial hit of about $1 million, which one Super Rugby chief executive yesterday estimated would make the difference between survival and bankruptcy.
However, RUPA chief executive Greg Harris believes players are not looking so far down the track at this point.
“That might form a small part of their thinking but mostly they’re saying to themselves, ‘there’s not enough money here … the money is better offshore’.”
Opportunities overseas, however, might not be as plentiful as many players believe. British clubs have a limit of two foreign players and even then to qualify they must have played Test football within the preceding 18 months. And most clubs have filled their rosters for next season.
The fear is that once the World Cup is over, there will be a stampede for the door if Australian rugby still is not in a position to match the European contract offers. Harris claimed the ARU might have no alternative, if it wants to field a competitive Test side, to taking “a more flexible approach” by abandoning its long-held position that only players who have competed in Super Rugby are eligible for Wallabies selection.
“At the end of the day, if they (the ARU) haven't got the money, they can't pay it,” said Harris.
“Maybe the solution is to set a quota of allowing, say, five overseas-based Australian players to be selected in the Wallabies at any one time.
“That way Australia gets to use these players at virtually no cost to itself. Instead of paying them hundreds of thousands of dollars, they only have to pay them the $10,000 Test match fee.
“The other battle Australian rugby has to brace itself for is if the NRL raises its salary cap to $7m, although at the moment we’re losing players to league not at the Test level but at schoolboy level.”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spor...-1226898837554
This is what happens when the ARU have to prop up NSW and Queensland every other year and agree to paying ridiculous redundancy payouts for senior management. It is a disgrace that there is not enough money left for the players.
Next they'll be throwing an heap at JOC so he can join the Tahs or Rebels for RWC or canning the NRC after a year.
Get your shit into order Mr Pulver, I know you didn't get left the cleanest shop, but lets not have damaged or discounted goods as the only one's available to us.
80 Minutes, 15 Positions, No Protection, Wanna Ruck?
Ruck Me, Maul Me, Make Me Scrum!
Education is Important, but Rugby is Importanter!
scrap the top ups
pay bonus for a wallaby win
Chuck Norris has the greatest Poker-Face of all time. He won the 1983 World Series of Poker, despite holding only a Joker, a Get out of Jail Free Monopoly card, a 2 of clubs, 7 of spades and a green #4 card from the game Uno.
That's the answer Happy. Trouble is that will create an even playing field for all Super franchises. NSW will not like that at all. Can't figure out why. Their current M.O. has delivered them exactly ZERO Super titles. SQUAT. NIL. NONE. ZILCH. NUFFINK. F.A. A big fat DUCK EGG!!!
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
The old boys network running the game on the east coast have turned this into a complete clusterf$ck.
Short term gains for long term pain. We are feeling the pinch now because we have done nothing since Rugby became professional to grow the game at the junior/club level and have relied on the nepotism of toff schools to develop the talent.
If the finances are in such a parlous state, then a salary cap should seem inevitable and this nonsense about the ARU determining who is good enough to hold a contract for the national team should be rendered mute. Just pay them a match fee FFS and let the franchises determine what they are worth. Of course a level playing field in terms of contracting would have helped us previously, which is probably why it was never seriously considered.
Now that the tahs are in the poo and we are just getting our sh!t together in terms of personnel and recruiting, they are going to think about junking it all.
Typical.
Surely if you scrap the bureaucratic rort that is Wallaby top ups, you can afford to pay higher match payments and bonuses for winning?
C'mon the![]()
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I did remember somthing about you have to be a wallaby for 2 yrs before you are paid a top up .... Correct if I am wrong but I think that was Ben Mowen and Micheal hoopers issuse as they have not been paid anything like the show ponies and the cripples that are in the squad now
And this case is the evidence of the problem. There are guidelines which aren't followed and policies which don't make sense, we have built a situation where a large number (possibly the majority) of the contracted players are not the best option for their position and a significant portion of the team aren't even eligible for a contract.
It's a clisterf@€k which will never be fixed until control of the ARU board is ripped out of the dead, cold hands of the two entities which have their team list supplemented by these payments.
</rant>
C'mon the![]()
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Izzy is worth every cent! (except when carving up the Force in Round 1)
But Gigs is right, the ARU seems to throw their procedures manual out the window when it suits them. The ARU need to sort their shit out otherwise going by everything we hear Rugby in Australia will be going back to the amateur days!
Could not agree with you more GIGS! It's the administration of the game that's the problem, not the game itself.
Actually I think I read something in the Australian retracting that story. So let's not worry about it
Interesting piece from G&GR analysing the ARU's 2014 Annual Report. Shows a bit of a black hole called "Corporate Overheads". Gee the cost of Champagne and Grange is going up
http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/aru-finances-2014/
For me there should be payments for the players who are in teh squad - including the extended squad.
The franchises pay the players from their cap, then if selected in the wallabies, they get paid accordingly - and not just match payments. They get paid a salary for the time they are training/travelling, and then they are paid extra on game day, perhaps a bonus for the SQUAD for winning.
gets rid of the 2 year wait, gets rid of the payments to unused players, gets rid of the unfair recruitment of players to particular franchises. Keeps it fair; if your in, you are compensated for it, if you are out - then you are not.
One thing i haven't thought about is if injured playing test, then you should get some sort of compensation similar to workers comp.