NRL and players agree new Collective Bargaining Agreement

A dispute between the NRL and its players over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) could be coming to an end, with reports indicating that a new pay deal has been agreed.

As reported by the Australian Associated Press, the NRL and Rugby League Players Association have settled on an in-principle CBA that will cover male and female players.

Described as the "League’s first billion-dollar CBA", the new deal, which lasts until 2027, will bring to an immediate end to industrial action taken by players, including a game-day media boycott.

After more than a month refusing to speak to the media on game days, players resumed their usual commitments starting from last night’s clash between Manly and Penrith.

In a statement released late yesterday, the players union advised "the RLPA acknowledges the efforts of the NRL to resolve the CBA in recent days, and thanks its members for their resolve in ensuring a fair agreement that benefits the game and all of its stakeholders."

The parties had resolved their financial differences last year, with the NRL proposing an increase in player payments of 37%, with $1.35 billion to be designated to players between 2023 and 2027.

However, in the subsequent months disagreements emerged over issues including access to and ownership of player data, allocation of funds to the RLPA’s programs and the length of the season.

The previous CBA could only roll over until 31st October this year, leading to fears the dispute could stretch into the upcoming finals series and potentially leave the league without an agreement for the first time since 2003.

Aside from their media boycott, players taped over the NRL logo on their jerseys in round 22, and released a video titled Stand With Us hoping to garner support from fans as the stoush reached boiling point.

This week’s crisis talks were attended by the NRL Chief Executive, Andrew Abdo, his RLPA counterpart, Clint Newton, several players, the Australian Rugby League Commission Chair, Peter V’landys, and players’ union representatives Tim Lythe and Deirdre Anderson.