CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
As the Hollywood Actors and Writers strikes continue to grow momentum with no end in sight, it appears that God’s winter code may be facing the same fate here in Australia.
In that, the superstar talent that makes up the National Rugby League are united in their unprecedented industrial demands.
With no movies or TV series being greenlit for production due to screen writers and actors taking action against Hollywood’s multibillion dollar production studios drafting up new contracts that remove royalties, residuals and personal IP clauses in the era of streaming services – it appears that labour strikes and boycotts are starting to take place within a whole range of entertainment industries.
In the NRL, it has been made clear by the players that they are not asking for more money, but more say over what their bodies should be put through over an average season.
With the addition of a new NRL side and a boosted roster of exhibition matches and representative comps, the players say that they should be involved in negotiations surrounding workload – especially if their salaries are not matching their ever-expanding man hours.
currently, players are refusing to take part in any media interviews on any day an NRL, NRLW or State of Origin match is played – a boycott that is dragging into a fourth week as negotations remain gridlocked
However, senior RLPA (Players Association) delegates have canvassed support for a number of other tactics if a resolution can’t be found, as the NRL continue to refuse bringing in an industrial relations mediator to settle the feud over the new collective bargaining agreement.
There are now talks about whether players should attend the prestigious Dally M ceremony and participate in the traditional finals launch, also known as ‘rugby league’s night of nights’.
Short of striking the finals themselves, the NRL players could not be more serious – with the RLPA now taking the unprecedented action of turning down a free night on the piss.
“We’ve never seen anything like it” said league pundit, Matty Johns.
“These boys are seriously. I could never have imagined anything like this happening in my day. It’s an open bar. I think the NRL have bitten off more than they can chew”
However, this unprecedented strike for players rights has not been picked up by the average punters, as the nation’s major media brands begin to grow nervous that this might start a trend of industrial action underneath their big business friends and advertisers.
“The players can go and cry in their ferraris, or join us on the worksite tomorrow” said one local NRL fan, who makes more than 80% of the NRL roster on said worksite.
