Rugby league considers central contracts to ease club v country tension

The Rugby Football League’s chief commercial officer, Roger Draper, has revealed that the sport is considering introducing central contracts to improve relations between Super League clubs and the England national side following a winter of discontent.

The cancellation of the England head coach Wayne Bennett’s proposed pre-season training camp to Dubai amid opposition from Super League clubs has highlighted tensions between club and country and Draper admitted there is a conscious effort from the RFL to repair relations in 2017 before this autumn’s World Cup.

A number of sports, most notably cricket, have centrally-contracted players in the national side and Draper told the Guardian the proposal has been floated to Super League clubs. “It’s a unique year with a World Cup at the end of it but one of the things we need to look at are central contracts – which are common in other sports,” Draper said. “They’re on the debating table as we speak but there’s more peace and harmony now than a few months ago.

“We need to develop that link between Super League and England and we’ve chucked it into the mix at a meeting last Friday with the clubs. On its own it’s not the be-all and end-all and it’s not the magic fix but if you combine it with an efficient salary cap and homegrown players and things like that, it could be beneficial and could help not only the sport in this country, but further afield.”

Draper -– who joined the RFL last October following a spell as the chief executive of Warrington prior to a role with the Lawn Tennis Association – also admitted that the RFL is looking at the future of games being played on a Thursday night.

The Thursday night time-slot, which traditionally kicks off the weekend’s fixtures, remains heavily criticised within the sport due to it creating short turnarounds from sides playing the preceding Sunday, and Draper admitted that it is under close scrutiny from the RFL – although it will remain part of the calendar for this season.

“Most fans agree Thursdays aren’t great but there’s a few myths surrounding that slot because sports like cricket and darts have made a success out of doing it,” he said. “Obviously sports like cricket have their games starting at 6.30pm so you cut the argument out about it being too late a finish on a school night – so the kick-off time is also being investigated.”