Players are set to cover the NRL logo on their jerseys this weekend in protest at the stalled negotiations over a fresh collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
NRL and NRLW players will take part in the action as the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA) turns up the heat on head office over protracted talks that have dragged on for months.
The NRLW remain without a CBA and NRL players are operating under the previous agreement which lapsed last November and must sign off on a new deal by October.
The move comes after the RLPA introduced a boycott of player media duties on matchdays and follows a meeting with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) in Melbourne earlier this week.
Further actions are believed to be planned if the NRL doesn’t come to the table and resurrect the flagging deal after they offered, what the RLPA labelled, ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ terms.
The RLPA have called for an independent mediator to resolve the stalemate after the players’ union said the NRL had made “100 unreasonable and unacceptable changes” in their last offer.
Covering the NRL logo on team jerseys is the union’s latest stunt, a move which was floated as a possible protest tactic during the pre-season tournament before players called off their action.
Now they are set to follow through on their words in the NRL’s upcoming Women in League round.
The round kicks off with an NRLW/NRL double header at the Gabba on Thursday when Brisbane host the Gold Coast Titans in NRLW and their men face the Sydney Roosters.
The NRL has declined to comment on the RLPA’s latest stunt and there is a sense head office is reluctant to engage in a public slanging match with the union.
South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou said his club backed the players’ stance and said they couldn’t allow it to be a distraction for Friday’s meeting with Wests Tigers.
“We’re pretty mature about it as a playing group,” Demetriou said.
“The club will have conversations in and around it just to make sure when we get to the game they won’t be thinking about it.”
