Club comments disappointing: Maloney

James Maloney has accused NRL club bosses of putting unfair heat on players to accept the league’s latest Collective Bargaining Agreement offer.

Several club bosses repeatedly cited that the offer the clubs and NRL agreed to put forward last week was “a massive win for the players” as they left meetings at NRL HQ.

Some even suggested the players virtually had to accept the deal, given the $2.1 million rise from this year’s base salary cap.

However the Rugby League Players Association has concerns over privacy matters relating to the integrity unit, player insurance, retirement funds and restriction on shared revenue streams put forward by the NRL.

After a meeting of almost 300 players in Sydney on Monday night, Maloney said the group would not be swayed into a deal they didn’t want to accept.

“It’s disappointing,” Maloney, who also sits on the RLPA board, said.

“Obviously they have got a motive behind those kinds of comments and they want to put us in a situation we don’t want to be in.

“But as we said the players are rock solid behind getting a deal that is done that is fair.

“While comments like that are disappointing and makes you question the idea of a partnership, I’m sure at the end of the day in the coming weeks we will get beyond that and a deal will be reached.”

Players also discussed the next cause of action if an agreement couldn’t be brokered with the NRL in Monday’s meetings.

Among them is the possibility of skipping commercial activities through next month’s finals series and the boycott of the Dally M awards ceremony.

Strike action through the end-of-season World Cup wasn’t raised, but is still not off the cards in the most extreme case.

However RLPA chief executive Ian Prendergast is confident peace can be brokered within coming weeks, given negotiations have surged forward since NRL CEO Todd Greenberg came to the table.

Regardless though, Maloney was also concerned by the fact club representatives had vowed this CBA proposal was the “best and final” offer for the players.

“That might be a problem because I don’t believe as players we are there yet,” Maloney said.

“There are things we’ve got that we can use as leverage if the NRL didn’t want to come to the party.”

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