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Greg Growden Chief Rugby Correspondent | May 5, 2009
THE public could learn shortly exactly what the Wallabies earn after the Australian players' union yesterday expressed a willingness to change its policy and permit salary disclosure.
Since the rise of professionalism in rugby in 1995, the Australian Rugby Union has agreed to the wishes of the Australian Rugby Union Players' Association not to publicly disclose the salaries of the players in the four local provinces.
Following Wallabies prop Matt Dunning's calls for the ARU to make public what it pays its leading players to reveal any major difference in the deals offered, the ARU said it would welcome that opportunity.
ARU chief executive John O'Neill said he would talk to RUPA president Tony Dempsey about the issue, and judging from Dempsey's sentiments yesterday, will get a receptive hearing.
"RUPA is not adverse to salary disclosure," Dempsey said. "It is something I want to explore with the membership. I can see some benefits in it, and I can understand where Matt is coming from. There needs to be some transparency in relation to the contracting process, and it can be a way for players to benchmark themselves against each other.
"The rugby public is also mature enough to understand what a player is earning, and they probably deserve to know what those payments are. And a lot of them will be surprised by how modest some of the salaries are.
"Fifteen years ago, it was hard for people to understand that a rugby player could earn money. Now they do comprehend that they need to be remunerated well if we want to keep them in the country, and not lose them to the northern hemisphere.
"If the players are sensitive about it, or aren't comfortable with it, we won't push the case. If they think it is a good idea, then it is something we should explore."
Asked if revealing salaries could cause resentment between players, especially among those who discover they are on substantially lower salaries than others who play in the same position, Dempsey replied: "Any resentment may be directed towards the player agent for not doing a good deal."
Some Australian forwards had recently expressed concerns they were unable to get the same large deals that had been offered to high-profile attacking players. However, the ARU recently countered by saying that of the top-20 earners last year, 13 were forwards. Of the top-10 salary earners, there were five backs and five forwards.
Dempsey, who has been involved in the Super rugby expansion working party, said Australian players would also be receptive to an alternative trans-Tasman Asia Pacific tournament if the SANZAR nations could not not agree on the future of the Super 15.
Australia and New Zealand are in dispute with South Africa over the direction of an expanded Super rugby format from 2011. Repeated compromise calls from South Africa, including demands that their Currie Cup competition not be affected, have put the SANZAR partnership at risk.
It has also led to the trans-Tasman nations working on an alternative tournament, which would at first comprise of Australian and New Zealand teams, but would have scope to later include two teams based in Japan.
"From the Australian players' perspective, the alternate plan fits very neatly," Dempsey said. "It involves less travel. It's all played in the same time zone. The players do respect the confrontational nature that the South African teams bring. But from a lifestyle perspective, the players, I would imagine, would be very interested in a conference which involved New Zealand and possibly Japanese teams."
There is strong local broadcaster interest in the trans-Tasman Asia-Pacific proposal, especially as the absence of time-zone concerns means four matches could be staged one after the other on a Saturday afternoon and evening. Plans are in place for matches to be held at 3.30pm, 5.30pm, 7.30pm and 9.30pm Australian time.
http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/n...e#contentSwap1
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