Big guns urged to share

Calls to pay more money to World Cup minnows

AUSTRALIA stars, including skipper Cameron Smith, could be asked to forfeit $1 million in match payments under a plan to reward minnow rivals following Tonga’s World Cup heroics.

NRL officials have discussed redirecting money given to Kangaroos and Kiwis stars to bridge the gap between the World Cup’s princes and paupers. The development comes as Tonga coach Kristian Woolf took aim at World Cup and international league bosses over the disparity in funding.

While Australia players receive $20,000 per Test, Woolf revealed his Tonga squad is being paid $500 per game.

Should Australia win the World Cup, their 24-man squad will receive $50,000 per man as negotiated under the NRL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.

That equates to a $1.2 million Kangaroo windfall – money influential league officials believe should instead be used to help reward rivals from tier-two nations such as Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

Australia and New Zealand’s pay arrangement for this World Cup will not change.

The idea to redistribute match payments and have Tonga and Fiji stars earning the same match fees as Kangaroos and Kiwi players is being slated for the next World Cup.

For the plan to work, Australia and New Zealand’s elite would have to accept drastic pay cuts to ostensibly help their poorly paid rivals.

The flat fee idea is likely to go down like a lead balloon with Kangaroos big guns such as Smith, who waged a public battle with the NRL this year in the fight for better pay.

A formal proposal has not been tabled at this stage to ARLC chairman John Grant, but he is aware of the push to slash Kangaroos payments to help the international game.

Woolf said Tonga players deserved a better slice of the financial pie after watching his players pull off a superb 28-22 World Cup upset of New Zea- land in Hamilton on Saturday. “My issue is in terms of what the tier-one teams are paid and their budgets,’’ he said.

‘‘There is a massive difference. I’d love to see the day where everything is equal – all the benefits are equal.”

World Cup chief executive Andrew Hill hopes Australia and New Zealand players would consider a financial hit for the good of the sport.

“I think there would be general support across the game for a set figure,” he said.