ARL chair Peter V’landys has taken the long stick to rugby union after a handful of NRL superstars were named as potential defectors in a bombshell report.
The report quoted former Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan, who said he had been told that Panthers champion Nathan Cleary and “a few other top NRL players were keen to come to rugby”.
McLennan said the word came from a third party and he believed “it was all real”.
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“Perhaps they (Cleary and the other NRL players) were wanting to test the waters with a few people, but by then I had left Rugby Australia,” he told News Corp.
The news follows the recent defection of Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i and his wildly impressive debut for the Wallabies just a few days ago. Union lured Sua’ali’i away from the Sydney Roosters on a $5.35 million three-year deal.
McLennan said there were six big NRL names mentioned but he was unclear if the players were actually aware if their names had been thrown up.
“I think the next two players Rugby Australia should look to target are Nathan Cleary and Payne Haas,” McLennan said.
“It would be an amazing experience for Nathan. Signing Cleary would be a game changer for the code and add millions in the TV rights deal coming up.”
Cleary was raised in New Zealand and his father Ivan — the Panthers mastercoach — once said he would consider coaching a rugby team.
After the News Corp report, V’landys unleashed a stinging response.
“I am surprised that they’re not trying to sign Cristiano Ronaldo and Tom Brady given their attention-seeking publicity,” V’landys said.
“I would be more concerned if I was them with the $80 million worth of debt that they have created which puts the whole game in financial turmoil.”
As the war heats up between the codes, it is possible the NRL might consider salary cap exemptions for NRL clubs who sign rugby union players.