Best paid to cop bigger cut
Just how much New Zealand’s leading rugby players will have their pay cheques slashed by could be revealed later this week.
Discussions between New Zealand Rugby (NZR), players and agents are on-going, but New Zealand Rugby Players Association boss Rob Nichol has confirmed higher paid players will have to shoulder more of the load to help NZR survive the financial implications of the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘‘It’s not about a straight percentage, no it’s not. It’s about saying, ‘this is what we want to try and target by the end of the year,’,’’ Nichol said on Sky Sport’s The Breakdown.
‘‘It’s a pretty significant number rate, then we look at what payments are due between now and the end of the year, what can we set aside, what can we have to fall back on, and what do we have to effectively freeze?’’
Team assembly fees shape as the first payment to be scrapped to players, before other benefits and, ultimately, retainers are hacked.
Nichol said protecting players who earn less than $50,000 a year was a priority, including sevens players, Black Ferns and draft Super Rugby players.
The maximum retainer for a top Super Rugby player is $195,000, the minimum is $75,000.
‘‘There’s an obligation to make sure they’re [lower earners] taken care of and they don’t hurt so much. We’re fortunate enough to have some good earners and those guys will step up and recognise they’re going to shoulder more of the responsibility,’’ Nichol said.
‘‘We’re getting down to the detail. Hopefully later this week we might be able to come out and explain what we’re doing.’’
Nichol also confirmed Crusader Sam Whitelock, who took this year off Super Rugby to take up a playing sabbatical in Japan, is heading a ‘‘competition working group’’, formed to help aid a return to play.
It is made up of 15 players, including Mitre 10 Cup players, as discussions ramp up regarding what way, shape and form the sport returns in, whenever that might be.
That includes the prospect of a revamped Super Rugby competition returning, a Mitre 10 Cup featuring All Blacks, and the revival of North Island vs South Island matches.
‘‘You can sense the enthusiasm they have around it, it’s really interesting times in that respect,’’ Nicholl said.‘‘The most important thing I’m hearing from players is they do want an opportunity to play a domestic focused competition as soon as possible and use that to galvanise the country.
‘‘If there is an opportunity to play some international stuff, that will be important as well because that takes it to another level. Commercially, that will be important.’’
All Blacks and Chiefs flanker
Sam Cane also featured on the Breakdown on Tuesday night, saying he and his fellow players were hurting seeing the clubs ‘‘that we love playing for hurting financially’’.
‘‘If we can get out and play some rugby and create some revenue that way, it would be awesome. Imagine a domestic comp with all the All Blacks back in. It’s been a while since that’s been the case . . . players are chatting pretty positively about that.’’