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Paul Gallen believes players will take huge pay gamble

Mark Levy
Article image for Paul Gallen believes players will take huge pay gamble

Former Cronulla Sharks and representative star Paul Gallen believes the NRL’s players will opt for a huge pay gamble and take the money on offer with the potential of a July season return on the table.

It comes after the NRL yesterday announced a recovery plan aimed at helping the game and more importantly all 16 clubs survive the coronavirus pandemic.

The package included a $40 million grant to be distributed to all the clubs on a monthly basis from April to October to cover operational costs.

If no football takes place for the rest of the year, it means players will likely take a 46 per cent pay cut for the remaining seven months of their contracts.

However Gallen told Wide World of Sports radio he believes the players will take a gamble on their income and risk not getting paid for five months if the game doesn’t resume in 2020.

“I was on the phone today to a few of the players and what’s happening with the pay reductions,” Gallen said.

“I think it’ll be a little bit different to what they’re saying, I actually think the players will get their full pay for March, April and May, I think that’s what they’re going for.

“Reading between the lines, I think the reason they’re going to go for that is they believe in Peter V’Landys, they believe in him bringing the game back on July 1.

“So if he brings the game back on July 1, they start training in June and there’s probably no reason they shouldn’t be getting paid in June if they’re training, that’s what I think they’ll do.

“I would do that, I would get my full pay over the next three months.”

Gallen is a premiership winner with Cronulla having played 348 NRL games while also representing New South Wales and Australia.

 

Click ‘play’ to hear the full interview below.

Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images.

Mark Levy
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