Australia’s rugby players are looking for money in the wrong places

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The Rugby Union Players Association’s boss picked a bad time to ask for more money for the game’s stars.

A fortnight ago, RUPA’s chief executive Adrian Turner went public with his unhappiness with Rugby Australia over a new pay deal, and in particular the issue of the World Cup windfall.

The collective bargaining agreement between RUPA and RA expires on October 31, so time was of the essence. But public sympathy for the players’ cause likely plummeted after the Wallabies were thrashed 50-19 by the All Blacks at Eden Park last Saturday.

However, the real issue is RUPA’s misguided belief that this generation of players should benefit from the World Cup windfall just by virtue of being around when the tournament takes place.

“Rugby Australia proposes that players do not share in a single dollar of the significant hosting fee it receives for the 2027 World Cup. That is unacceptable,” Turner told this masthead.

It’s there to support the sport long after this group of players have finished, or gone back to rugby league or headed to Japan.

The irony of Turner’s comments is that it is well known that World Cup years are financially horrible for participating unions, and that is part of the reason why money is so tight for the majority – if not all – nations.

Without the World Cup windfall, reported to be $100 million, RA would bleed money next year due to the reduced number of home Tests, and it is my suspicion the 2026 figures won’t be too flash.

All this talk of British and Irish Lions and World Cup bonanzas is misleading, as the figures reported have to be spread out over 12 years in the case of the Lions tour, and 20-plus years for hosting the World Cup.

They are occasional events that reflect Australia’s superb sporting infrastructure and government support (federal and state), rather than the high-performance excellence of the Wallabies in recent times.

In fact, there is still the sense that the Wallabies of the past decade or so have been standing on the shoulders of the giants who preceded them rather than making their own mark.

The Wallabies brand, for want of a better word, has been resilient despite years of underperformance, and that can be seen in the great attendance numbers the side attracts.

But one look at the Wallabies’ attire, with the hoops around the socks referencing their history, shows that past achievements continue to do a lot of heavy lifting.