https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sp...s/news-story/4296abff698cb938e909685bdcc7423d
Rugby league set to introduce ban on signing under 18s
- The Australian
- 12:00AM September 7, 2016
- Brent Read
The ARL Commission could be only weeks away from rubberstamping one of the most significant changes in the code’s history — a ban on clubs contracting players until the year they turn 18.
NRL head of football Brian Canavan is expected to provide his recommendations on the way forward for the game to a commission meeting later this month, the first step in what shapes as a revolutionary overhaul of the way clubs and player agents operate.
Chief among those recommendations is a game-wide ban on the signing of players until the year they turn 18, a move which is expected to save clubs millions of dollars and help combat the worsening mental health issues brought on by the huge expectations placed on the game’s best teenagers.
The move, first revealed in
The Australian more than a year ago, was the brainchild of the NRL’s former head of strategy, Shane Richardson, who completed a wholesale review of the game when he was employed by Rugby League Central.
When Richardson opted to return to South Sydney to head their football operations, Canavan was brought in to finish the work he had started. It is understood many of the recommendations reached by Richardson will form part of Canavan’s submission to the independent commission, most notably a lift in the age at which both clubs and player agents can sign players to contracts.
As it stands, clubs can begin contracting players at the age of 15 while agents are basically given free rein. The changes are expected to place tighter restrictions on both clubs and player managers — Richardson had proposed a ban on agents signing talent until the year they turn 17.
It is understood some clubs have already begun planning for the future by focusing their recruitment efforts on teenagers who have already reached the age of 18 or will do so when the Canavan’s recommendations are brought into effect from 2018.
Club chief executives were briefed on the plans at a meeting in Sydney last week.
As well as the ban on signing teenagers, Canavan is also expected to recommend the adoption of Richardson’s plan to end the national under-20s competition at the end of next season and make reserve grade a state-based competition, which in turn would mean NRL clubs would have responsibility for only one salary cap made up of squads of 30 players, with an additional batch of rookie contracts, and a ceiling on how much those rookies can be paid.
While Richardson recommended each club be provided with the ability to sign six players to rookie contracts over a rolling two-year period, there has been a push from some clubs to increase that number to 10.
The changes are expected save the clubs millions off their bottom lines by eliminating the cost of the under-20s and reducing the number of players they have contracted outside their top tier.
Like reserve grade, the under-20s competition would revert to competitions run by the Queensland and NSW Rugby Leagues. The changes have been earmarked for 2018, when the new broadcasting deal comes into effect and millions flow into the game.
It shapes as a defining year for the game, with the salary cap set to skyrocket and clubs expected to edge towards profitability. Club grants could be as high as $13 million each per season, although the finer details of the new licensing agreements are yet to be finalised.
Those talks between the commission and club chairmen are ongoing, as are talks between the players union and the NRL aimed at resolving the salary cap and other issues impacting players.
