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From News Limited so not sure how credible this is.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/n...-ahead-of-finals/story-fnp0lyn2-1227520231186
NRL revolt: Players demand their fair share as boycott looms ahead of finals
MAROONS legend Johnathan Thurston is prepared to boycott the Dally M awards as part of an NRL player revolt against the governing body.
Thurston has previously won the award in 2005, 2007 and 2014 and could become the first player to win four.
Asked if he was going to boycott the Dally M Awards, Thurston said:
Yeah I was one of the boys who actually raised that Ive got no worries in raising that.
In a wide ranging interview with the Grill Team on Triple M this morning, Thurston said: The biggest concern is with the player welfare and the retirement fund.
Asked about the players seeking eight weeks leave and abolishing the five day turnaround, Thurston replied: Now is the time that we believe to stand up and abolish the five day turnaround.
He was also asked would players be prepared to sit out games as part of their action against the NRL.
We havent spoken about boycotting games but if we feel as though the NRL arent coming to the party then well have to have a chat and go from there he said.
Players union boss Clint Newton also refused to rule out a Dally M boycott.
It has happened before, he said, The players are extremely frustrated.
Thurstons comments follow overnight reports that a player revolt has them on a collision course with chief executive Dave Smith over player payments.
The players are set to break their silences at club press conferences on Thursday morning in a full-scale revolt to reveal their frustrations at the prolonged collective bargaining agreement review.
The players union, the RLPA, has been in talks with the NRL since March in a review of their entitlements.
The dispute centres on three key issues. They are:
* abolishing five-day turnarounds between games;
* increasing off-season annual leave from six to eight weeks; and
* maintaining the same share of the games revenue
While the NRLs revenue has risen substantially in the past two years, the players share of the profits has not increased.
The union has the support of the biggest names in the code, including Thurston, Cameron Smith and Paul Gallen, who will all be involved in Thursdays media blitz against the NRL hierarchy.
The players are fed up with the constant delays in negotiations to get a greater share of the billion-dollar broadcasting rights money and other major revenue.
One senior player told The Daily Telegraph: These talks have gone on for too long now and its long overdue for the NRL to do something about it.
Its not a matter of greed, its more about setting a pathway for players to make careers out of their profession.
No one wants to hold the game to ransom, but it has come to a time where we need to show our strength as a group.
Would we boycott the Dally M Awards? Well, it has happened before.
The player unrest is the last thing Smith needs going into this weekends finals.
The 16 clubs are already at loggerheads with the NRL and the independent commission over future funding of the game.
There is a fear among the players and their managers that the clubs are angling for their own financial security ahead of their own needs.
When contacted by The Daily Telegraph, players union boss Clint Newton said he would be publicly addressing the issues with the players on Thursday morning.
He could not indicate whether Thurston and Smith boycotted the NRLs captains call on Monday because of the dispute.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/n...-ahead-of-finals/story-fnp0lyn2-1227520231186
NRL revolt: Players demand their fair share as boycott looms ahead of finals
MAROONS legend Johnathan Thurston is prepared to boycott the Dally M awards as part of an NRL player revolt against the governing body.
Thurston has previously won the award in 2005, 2007 and 2014 and could become the first player to win four.
Asked if he was going to boycott the Dally M Awards, Thurston said:
Yeah I was one of the boys who actually raised that Ive got no worries in raising that.
In a wide ranging interview with the Grill Team on Triple M this morning, Thurston said: The biggest concern is with the player welfare and the retirement fund.
Asked about the players seeking eight weeks leave and abolishing the five day turnaround, Thurston replied: Now is the time that we believe to stand up and abolish the five day turnaround.
He was also asked would players be prepared to sit out games as part of their action against the NRL.
We havent spoken about boycotting games but if we feel as though the NRL arent coming to the party then well have to have a chat and go from there he said.
Players union boss Clint Newton also refused to rule out a Dally M boycott.
It has happened before, he said, The players are extremely frustrated.
Thurstons comments follow overnight reports that a player revolt has them on a collision course with chief executive Dave Smith over player payments.
The players are set to break their silences at club press conferences on Thursday morning in a full-scale revolt to reveal their frustrations at the prolonged collective bargaining agreement review.
The players union, the RLPA, has been in talks with the NRL since March in a review of their entitlements.
The dispute centres on three key issues. They are:
* abolishing five-day turnarounds between games;
* increasing off-season annual leave from six to eight weeks; and
* maintaining the same share of the games revenue
While the NRLs revenue has risen substantially in the past two years, the players share of the profits has not increased.
The union has the support of the biggest names in the code, including Thurston, Cameron Smith and Paul Gallen, who will all be involved in Thursdays media blitz against the NRL hierarchy.
The players are fed up with the constant delays in negotiations to get a greater share of the billion-dollar broadcasting rights money and other major revenue.
One senior player told The Daily Telegraph: These talks have gone on for too long now and its long overdue for the NRL to do something about it.
Its not a matter of greed, its more about setting a pathway for players to make careers out of their profession.
No one wants to hold the game to ransom, but it has come to a time where we need to show our strength as a group.
Would we boycott the Dally M Awards? Well, it has happened before.
The player unrest is the last thing Smith needs going into this weekends finals.
The 16 clubs are already at loggerheads with the NRL and the independent commission over future funding of the game.
There is a fear among the players and their managers that the clubs are angling for their own financial security ahead of their own needs.
When contacted by The Daily Telegraph, players union boss Clint Newton said he would be publicly addressing the issues with the players on Thursday morning.
He could not indicate whether Thurston and Smith boycotted the NRLs captains call on Monday because of the dispute.
