Players refuse to play more games

[Danny]

Great to see the players association looked past the money and instead looked after their players


Thirty games is our limit: top players
By James MacSmith
Sunday, December 26, 2004 Print this article

Australia's elite rugby players will not be coerced into playing more matches in the wake of a lucrative new TV deal, the code's players union has warned.

Rugby Union Players Association chief executive Tony Dempsey said that despite the new agreement players would not go above the current 30-games-a-year quota, even though the deal included an increased number of Super 14 and Tri Nations matches.

The alliance of the South African, New Zealand and Australian rugby unions (SANZAR) signed a $423 million five-year deal with News Ltd on Wednesday for the broadcast rights of southern hemisphere rugby. The terms of a new collective bargaining agreement have also been finalised and will be announced in the new year.

Dempsey said player burnout remained an issue and 30 games a year for the players remained the cut-off point.

"Currently the top players are close to the quota and the new deal will push it to the max of 30 games," Dempsey said.

[Danny]

In another boost to RU players, there will now be an added week off between the completion of the end of year international tour and the start of full pre season training. The ARU is getting serious about tackling the injury rates in its code.

A good read...

New agreement reduces workload
January 24, 2005
FOX SPORT

RUGBY union has become the first football code to take major steps to reduce the workload on its top players in the game's new collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

All Wallabies players will get an additional week off at the end of each season, and will participate in only restricted training sessions for the following three weeks, under the terms of the agreement unveiled today by the ARU and the Rugby Union Players' Association (RUPA).

This will result in players having nine weeks between finishing an international tour and beginning full pre-season training again the following year.

The move follows much discussion about the length of the season in each of the three main football codes, all of which had end-of-season tours last year that extended the seasons long past their traditional end dates.

It is designed to reduce injury and avoid the burnout factor among players.

During negotiations all parties had 2006 in mind, when the Super 12 competition would expand to 14 and the Tri Nations series would be extended, ARU high performance manager Brett Robinson said.

"We looked to make sure that particularly from a Wallaby perspective, our Wallabies were getting enough time to rest and re-generate," Robinson said.

"We've established through this agreement a period of time where Wallabies come back into Super 12 training and have restricted training activities that enable them to focus their attention on their physical and skill development and protect them from the onerous contact training that can have a diminishing impact on a player's well-being.

"Wallaby players will effectively have a nine-week window from the end of a Wallaby tour until they go back into full training and playing."

In addition, RUPA chief executive Tony Dempsey said so-called "voluntary" training sessions run by coaches in the off-season would now be outlawed under the terms of the agreement.

"No longer will there be what we call voluntary training sessions during active rest (periods)," Dempsey said.

"Some of the coaches' appetites are quite voracious in terms of training, which is quite understandable because they've got a job to do like everybody else.

"But the feedback from the players was that we needed to address this ... the number of training sessions are going to be quite measured and scientific with a view to the player burnout issue.

"We're tackling the injury rate issue as well so that we're not going to find situations where players are put under pressure to play or train with an injury."

Other components of the new CBA include each Super 12 team being given up to five rookie contracts, the formation of an occupational health and safety committee to address player welfare issues and compulsory accreditation for player agents.

The accreditation scheme will be run by RUPA, and Dempsey made it clear the organisation was serious about implementing it.

"(Player managers) are going to have to comply with it or take up a different occupation," he said.

"We want to protect the players because there are some very reputable player managers who operate in the marketplace but there are others that aren't.

"And they're charged with dealing with the responsibility of dealing with these young fellows' lives and the significant amount of money that some of them are earning, and it's important we are very confident and comfortable with the advice that they're giving."