RFL under fire over central contracts' process

He has called for transparency from the governing body after St Helens announced yesterday they had re-signed their England full-back Jonny Lomax on a two-year deal while adding the player had also gone on the RFL’s payroll.

The Super League club stated on their website: “He joins a group of players that the RFL have contracted centrally to help promote the sport.

“Jonny will take part in Rugby League marketing and commercial opportunities and will continue to be not only a face of the club, but the sport as a whole going forward.”

Back in February, the RFL had confirmed “ambassador contracts” had been introduced around 12 months previously “to address the growing commercial and marketing needs of the organisation” and, at that point, had an agreement with one Super League player with talks underway with three others.

Those talks now appear to have extended further with up to a dozen players eventually expected to be tied to RFL deals each amounting to around £25,000 per year for a maximum of two years.

One of the primary aims is to help retain Super League’s best players in the face of competition from the financial muscle of the Australian NRL and rugby union.

However, The Yorkshire Post understands St Helens were not supposed to disclose details of Lomax’s arrangement with the RFL, who had planned to make an official announcement at a later date when their full list was finalised.

Although he played every game in the Four Nations last autumn, Lomax has endured more injury problems this season and has featured on just eight occasions for his club.

He is in the revised 27-man England elite performance squad named last month, but did not feature in the mid-season Test against Samoa and faces stiff competition from Wigan Warriors’ Sam Tomkins, Castleford Tigers’ Zak Hardaker and Warrington Wolves’ Stefan Ratchford for a seat on the plane to the World Cup in October.

Harrison, who includes Leeds Rhinos captain Danny McGuire plus Castleford’s England duo Luke Gale and Hardaker on his books, is concerned about the opaque situation regarding central contracts.

“I think it’s shocking and the most ludicrous thing I’ve seen in 14 years of doing this job,” he told The Yorkshire Post.

“How on earth will it all sit with some England players getting an extra 25k for 18 days’ work on the RFL’s behalf?

“But it mainly bothers me there is no transparency here. The RFL have not announced which players are getting it or why.

“It seems to me if you’re out of contract and can prove there’s been some interest from the NRL then you can pop it on the desk and ask for this 25k.

“Clubs who have offered their player 100k a season can suddenly make sure they get them 125k.

“But I’d be worried that clubs would just look to start re-negotiating their England players’ deals.

“And if Castleford go on to win the League Leaders’ Shield and four of their players play the World Cup this year yet some are not getting this extra payment, what will those players be thinking?

“How does it work? Is it who bangs on the door loudest? It doesn’t make any sense.”

Harrison claims many clubs are in the dark about the governing body’s stance while there is obviously question marks over the scheme also as it gives some Super League outfits greater spending power above the salary cap than others.

“One of my players was offered this (payment) from the club to the RFL or vice versa,” he said.

“The agent is not involved. I was of the assumption that every player selected for the England rugby league squad would be allocated this.

“I have had various conversations with clubs asking why my other England players were not receiving this and it appears that no one has a straight answer.

“Surely everyone in the England side should receive it or none of them should.

“You wouldn’t see this in any other sport. I understand the concept of it to help make the competition stronger and to stave off interest from the NRL and rugby union.

“But the RFL need to be clearer about it all.”

A Rugby Football League spokesperson said: “The Rugby Football League stated at the beginning of the year that retaining the best talent in the Super League was a priority and it has introduced a range of measures to help do this including an increase to the Salary Cap and changes to the Marquee Player rule.

“The Rugby Football League is in discussions with some players about becoming centrally contracted with the organisation and these discussions continue.

“Any centrally contracted player must be eligible for England selection and would take part in a number of additional commercial and marketing activities to help promote the sport.

“The panel for selection of the players will consist of members of the Senior Executive of the Rugby Football League and will also include Rugby Director Kevin Sinfield, with input from the England Rugby League coaching team.

“Full details of this process, the criteria for selection and those players who are centrally contracted will be announced in due course.”