DISGRUNTLED players will launch a campaign today for a share of millions of dollars in prizemoney for appearing in the NRL finals, like their AFL counterparts.
Rugby League Players Association chief executive David Garnsey will meet NRL executives and club bosses Steve Noyce, Steve Burraston and Shane Richardson to put a case on behalf of "angry" stars for end-of-season prizemoney as part of the next collective bargaining agreement.
It would mean players getting paid about $30,000 each for being part of a winning grand final team.
Player representatives from the 16 teams are demanding prizemoney increases and a minimum 50/50 share of the cash - the same as has operated in the AFL for years.
"All these issues like prizemoney in the finals and increased payments for representative football are of great importance to the players," Garnsey said last night.
"They're angry, there's a fair bit of frustration out there and they're being quite vocal about it.
"They think the current arrangements are unsatisfactory and they want something to be done about it.
"There should be more scope for the players to share some of the prizemoney from the finals like the AFL players have in their agreements.
"In the past this has been an area where the players haven't been looked after like they should be.
"At the moment, there is no obligation for the clubs to share any of the money with the players, no matter how much the prizemoney is.
"We'd like to see that changed. It's one of a lot of things that could help keep players in the game."
Last year, Melbourne Storm got $400,000 for winning the grand final and Parramatta got $200,000 as runners-up. In the AFL, Geelong won $1.2 million prizemoney last year and the players shared $600,000.
Under the next TV deal - which will be negotiated next year - players will be pushing for a substantial prizemoney increase whereby the premiers would be paid $1 million and the runners-up $500,000.
"The club would get $500,000 and the 17 players would get about $30,000 each for winning the title," an official said.
Clubs bank the money because they can't pay the players under the current salary cap rules.
The push for a share of prizemoney from the finals is just one of at least 10 demands the players' association will put to the NRL and clubs in a log of claims at today's meeting.
Apart from finals prizemoney, high on the priority list is a 100 per cent increase in appearance money for State of Origin players to get a bigger slice of the pie from the huge gates and TV advertising revenue.
Players are currently earning $2500 and getting $700 in expenses for each Origin game. The stars, according to Garnsey, want the payments doubled.
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