WHAT kind of stupid contract allows you to have a one-month window every year to walk out on your club?

St George Illawarra great Mark Gasnier drew on just such a get-out clause yesterday when he confirmed he was headed to France to play rugby union.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame Gaz for his move.

Players only have a limited time at the top, particularly with the burnout issues caused by the pace of the modern game.

But Gasnier was signed to a five-year deal two years ago and the Dragons have built their team around him. For the club to now see him walk out reflects very poorly on the league and should get officials across Australia thinking about what action should be taken to stop the rot.

The NRL only has itself to blame for many of the problems. The $85 million-a-season television rights deal undervalues the sport’s pulling power and pales in comparison to the AFL’s $156 million-a-season mega-deal.

On top of that, the NRL officials, along with their counterparts in New Zealand and Britain, aren’t doing enough to expand the sport into new territories. Outside the top three teams there is little to look forward to at this year’s World Cup.

We bring in the likes of Namibia, Scotland and Russia to play these showpiece events but what happens after the World Cup? Nothing. We went to the US to play a State of Origin match in 1987 but again there has been little development work done there since.

In many sports the lure of representative jumpers outweighs monetary concerns but it’s not the case in rugby league because the lure of the Kangaroos jersey is nothing when we play so few meaningful games. There is no doubt the State of Origin jersey is cherished but for players like Gasnier who have already excelled on that stage, it doesn’t make sense to stick around.

The star centre is not the first to head to Europe to chase the cash and he won’t be the last.

I remember touring Europe in 1986 and talking to Peter Fitzsimons who was playing rugby in France for three months.

Even then he was getting $60,000 which was more than top-level rugby league players earnt in Sydney at the time. We don’t have the population to compete with the European clubs that have massive supporter bases and wealthy corporate backers.

And we can’t simply lift salary cap restrictions because we would soon get in the situation where the rich clubs buy up all the top talent. One idea worth considering is letting juniors who have played five to seven years at their home club be exempt from the salary cap.

All I can say to Gasnier is au revoir and good luck.

 

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