The current CBA negotiations between the RLPA and ARLC have taken a massive turn, with the NRL reportedly not declaring $60 million dollars in TV revenue.
According to Roy Masters from The Age, the RLPA hired a forensic accountant to investigate the NRL’s revenue over the last two years and uncovered the large sum of money.
The NRL has agreed that there was an error in their calculations but is firm in their belief that the RLAP didn’t find the missed revenue first.
This report comes in the midst of one of the most public battles between the two parties in NRL history and contributed to the large amount of distrust that the players have towards the hierarchy of rugby league in Australia.
The main issue surrounding this finding surrounds the player’s collective $98 million dollar pay-cut that they took as a result of Covid-19.
RLPA chief executive Clint Newton alluded to the players loyalty during Covid not being respected in an interview with The Age last month.
“Didn’t players demonstrate the respect and passion for the game and its future by willingly accepting reductions of $98 million to save the game and protect the clubs they love, or have the NRL now erased that from history,” Newton said.
“Players were not contractually obligated to take any cuts, but they did, and that can’t be forgotten. They have received some partial payments but only because players secured a revenue share in the revised agreement, not out of some goodwill gesture.”
The negotiations will continue over the coming months with both parties standing their ground and not giving in to the demands of the other.