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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...012430,00.html
Bret Harris | August 09, 2007
ARU chief executive John O'Neill will move to restrain player salaries in the next round of contract negotiations to help bring the game back to financial stability.
O'Neill launched his book, It's Only A Game, in Sydney yesterday on his 56th birthday, which was the same date the rival code, rugby league, was founded 100 years ago.
Rugby union went professional in 1995 in the year the Super League war erupted, inflating player salaries in both codes.
While rugby league salaries have been corrected by market forces, O'Neill argued that rugby union salaries had not come down.
"Historically, rugby's arrival in the professional era with the coincidence of paying players was off the back of the Super League war," O'Neill said.
"Rugby union players arguably came in at an inflated level to get the players back from WRC (World Rugby Championship) and stop rugby league from pinching them.
"Players used their bargaining power ... and I've spelt it out in the book ... good luck to them. They had leverage.
"Rugby league salaries have come back and I don't think ours have."
O'Neill, who recently confirmed the ARU was looking at a $6million deficit, emphasised he was not suggesting players take pay cuts.
But he warned the game could not afford to live beyond its means.
"I'm not suggesting pay cuts, but I'm suggesting there is a market and the market is a combination of, particularly, what rugby league players earn and equally what players can earn overseas.
"We can't be ignorant of the fact that players can go to Europe and England ... I think we have to be a bit careful that we contain our overall overhead in a way that we don't spend more than we are earning.
"It's not a priority, but we need to have sensible discussions with RUPA (the players' association).
"It's not in the players' interests for rugby not to be financially stable. It's not about getting players to take a salary cut, but it is to be paying players according to what the market says they are worth."
Players' association chief executive Tony Dempsey rejected any suggestion player salaries were inflated.
"I agree with John, this is not a priority," Dempsey said. "I suspect there is a broader market than overseas rugby union clubs and rugby league.
"With the rise and rise of soccer and AFL, kids today have more choice in their sporting careers. That's the broader context we need to look at."
O'Neill said the ARU would also review the size of the Wallabies' coaching and management staff after the World Cup in France in September and October.
"It's been a creeping phenomenon," O'Neill said. "It's not to say we have too many coaches.
"I do use the analogy of teaching. Coaches are teachers. If a pupil is hearing too many voices, they get confused.
"We just have to be careful that we don't make our lives more complicated. We don't want to go down the gridiron path of a coach for every component of the game."
O'Neill, who returned to the ARU in June after running Australian soccer for three years, said it would take a while before rugby was in good shape again.
"We are into hard yards again," he said. "It will take a couple of years before we are back in solid shape.
"I'm not writing off our chances at this year's World Cup, but making the semis would be a really good effort.
"I'm looking forward to 2011 and building a great Wallaby team to try to win the World Cup in New Zealand."
Ed....I am sure RUPA will be glad to see this
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and until the rules are changed on wallaby selection that can't be good for the game.
Originally Posted by hopep
