I’ve said on the NRL page, the bigger risk isn’t losing players to that game (we’ll lose a few, but our game is strong enough to do so), the bigger risk is that player agents will (and already are) clearly use R360 as a negotiation tool, which will then drive up NRL contract values. That probably won’t harm the top clubs too much, but the bottom clubs will find it even harder to recruit out of trouble. Let’s use Munster as an example, we all know he’d stay at storm for less money than he’ll get elsewhere, so let’s say Storm value him at $1m, a crap NRL team are going to have to pay him probably $1.4m, but then R360 offer him $1.8m - his agent will be using the $1.8 offer to drive up crap NRL teams offer to closer to the $1.8m mark, and that’s before we start talking about potential tax loopholes available to R360 players.
On that basis, in my view, the NRL have to engineer a consequence that says if you leave rugby league for another sport, you can’t have a new NRL contract for 3 years. That way, players won’t take the risk for 12 months of good R360 money knowing they’ll get a gig back at NRL anytime, which will reduce the lure of R360 and the bargaining power it gives the agents.
