JT blasts NRL as salary cap leaves him in limbo

PETER BADEL FRUSTRATED Johnathan Thurston has lashed the NRL over the salary cap farce that has left the code’s No.1 player unable to sign a new deal with the Cowboys.

Thurston yesterday vowed to stand up for players’ rights “until the day I retire” and the Cowboys champion is prepared for a showdown with NRL boss Todd Greenberg.

The NRL Nines starts at Eden Park today, prompting Rugby League Players Association delegates to fly to Auckland for meetings with Thurston and other top players.

More than 250 NRL players are in limbo over club grants, the salary cap for next season and key details of the next Col- lective Bargaining Agreement.

Thurston is off contract at the end of the season and wants to sign a 12-month extension, but the Cowboys have suspended talks until the NRL settles on a salary cap figure.

Thurston could go into his final Origin series in June without a deal for next season and is sick of the CBA impasse.

“I’ve been pretty vocal in the past on players’ rights and standing up for the players and it will be no different until the day I retire,” he said. “The con- tract stuff will come in due course but it’s hard to (sign a new deal) when no one knows what the salary cap will be.

“Clubs are trying to sign players for the coming years and they don’t know what the salary cap is going to be.’’