It's not BS, Nine hasn't paid a cent for the Dolphins or the extra content expansion into Brisbane provided and PVL gave them a discount "because of covid" that they instantly invested into acquiring the RU rights. Outside of the bonus News (not Fox) paid the NRL to pick the Dolphins over the other bids, they haven't paid anything for the Dolphins either.
Broadcasters will always act in their own interests first, not the NRL's or the sport more broadly, and will gleefully take advantage of the sport where they can. The fact that Nine was stupid enough to think that it was a better investment to invest in RU content over more RL content in the 2020s shows exactly what their opinion is worth.