Pay talks between the Rugby League Players' Association and the NRL have reached breaking point as players escalate their protests by boycotting all media duties on gamedays

    

The static escalation in the NRL pay dispute with players now refusing to do interviews before, during and after matches. Critics say the move will only hurt the fans, but the players association insists it's the only way to resolve the stalled negotiations. 

For now and in the foreseeable future, things like these will be a thing of the past. Players giving their time to the broadcasters on game day. Sentences dripping in sweat and emotion after a win or a loss have been cancelled by the 

players. They're sick of the collective bargaining agreement stalemate. Over the past 20 months we have seen a disturbing pattern of behaviour from the NRL and the RL Commission. What we have seen is a failure to respect the role of the players. 

It's hard to work out what the players want. The players' bosses really struggle to articulate their case today. One point of clarity, they want player benefits to return to pre -COVID 

levels and they want greater control of funds. The players claim they've been lied to by the NRL. Players sat in meetings with Abdo himself and we had a whiteboard, talked about these figures and pretty much had a handshake deal there and they've come back and said 

sorry this is what we want and it's non -negotiable. Some players are in favour of strike action. Some players will not believe this is hard enough given we're 20 months into negotiations. Just let that sink in. 

The fans will now only hear from coaches on game day. The players claim they're not trying to hurt those who ride every win and loss with their heroes. This is not about turning our back on the fans at all. We want a deal done, we want to go 

back to normal and we've been back into a corner here. Who do the fans connect with? The heroes, the players. So it's disappointing whenever we talk about restricting the access that the fans have to hear from their heroes. 

The players may be hurting themselves but the broadcasters find a large chunk of their wages. Not complying, maybe a breach of contract. Should the players own wages, be docked while they boycott part of the broadcast commitments? 

I'm not going to answer that question. Danny Weidler, 9 News.