Walters supports contract changes
Kevin Walters has shot down the players’ defence of the current contract system and supported calls for change in the wake of the Jack Wighton affair.
Canberra utility Wighton agreed to a four-year deal with Souths this week, sparking an emotional protest from the Raiders and ugly social media backlash from Raiders fans.
Broncos coach Walters agreed with Raiders counterpart Ricky Stuart that league needed to scrap the law which lets players sort out their futures mid-season.
“I certainly believe the NRL need to look at that,’’ Walters said. “There should be a time frame when players can negotiate for next year if they’re not already resigned. It’s tough for the Raiders, for Ricky and Jack Wighton. Nobody wins there really.
“I would have thought in the off-season, maybe in October through to whenever. That’s when you can negotiate with another club. It just makes sense to me. I feel for Ricky and all those guys and also Jack Wighton having made the decision so early in the season.
“In the past players have said ‘ we can’t move quickly, we need time to adjust’. I have seen players one week in a certain jersey and the following week in another one.
“The commission needs to make some rules about when the players can negotiate because it’s not a great look for the club.’’
The AFL goes down a different path to rugby league by having an intense post season trade period.
One of the reasons NRL powerbrokers allow players to negotiate their futures midseason is it dominates the back pages and keeps the publicity bush fire burning between games without harming the game in a deep-seated way.
Walters also took aim at social media warriors who viciously attacked Wighton after the decision.
“I have not seen the remarks but we have seen it here with our players. It’s just not acceptable,” he said.
“And whoever they are those keyboard warriors need to be found and actually punished and fined and we need to do whatever we can to stop it. It’s ridiculous.’’