NRL star accuses the league of “burying 40 million” as salary cap negotiations continue

The RLPA and NRL are still locked in intense negotiations regarding the salary cap and one of the RLPA board members has called out the NRL.

Melbourne Storm and Queensland prop Christian Welch has accused the league of burying 40 million dollars as the two parties struggle to come to terms on the budget.

“I think we’ve been very respectful throughout the year, to be honest, when you look at the out-performance,” he said.

“There was $11 million on the table, and we sent auditors in, and it turns out there’s $40 million they’ve buried.

“I think we’ve really acted in good faith, and it’s really frustrating to see how it’s playing out at the moment.”

The current deal which the NRL is offering will raise the cap from $9.8 million up to $12 million but this would only be a 40.5% market share for any revenue clubs make.

With the season only a few months away, The central bargaining agreement still hasn’t been decided and Welch believes blame for this fully lies with the NRL.

“We asked for financial information 12 months ago in November. We got it in June. We’ve been trying to get to the table,’ he said.

‘I think maybe there was the NRL were assuming it would be over in a week. But there’s some really crucial things. It’s not just financial. There are other non-financial things like agreement rights and even just getting the women’s CBA, the first one ever done, is really important.

‘I think they thought it would be over a bit quicker, which is a bit surprising for us at the NRLPA.’