The NRL will ban any player who signs with rebel rugby competition R360 for 10 years, so too any agent who brokers a deal for their client to make what now must be deemed an extraordinary code switch.
The Australian Rugby League Commission [ARLC] moved to squash the R360 threat at its meeting on Wednesday morning in Sydney, with any player who does jump ship now effectively no chance of returning to the NRL.
R360 had reportedly held conversations with multiple NRL players, reportedly dangling multi-million dollar contracts as carrots for a code switch, with the hope of commencing their global, multi-city stop, competition in October next year.
That is despite the competition -- which is being fronted by England Rugby World Cup winner Mike Tindall -- having released sparing few details of its setup or financial backers.
But the NRL could ill-afford to continue to bury its head in the sand, with the ARLC on Wednesday publishing a three-point response to answer the threat of R360. It states:
1. Player Prohibition
Any NRL Player who negotiates, signs, or enters into a Letter of Intent, Playing Contract, or any other form of agreement-whether verbal or written-with a football competition, league, or organisation not recognised by the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) as a national sporting federation, will be banned from participation in the NRL and any ARLC-sanctioned competitions for a period of ten (10) years.
2. Agent Prohibition
Any NRL Accredited Player Agent who acts for, assists, represents, or advises a player in any capacity in relation to dealings with, or the signing of, a Letter of Intent or Playing Contract with a football competition that is not recognised by the ARLC as a national sporting federation, will be subject to the same ten (10) year ban from NRL-related activities, including accreditation renewal.
3. Discretion to Review or Lift Ban
The ARLC retains sole and absolute discretion to review or lift a ban imposed under this provision only in exceptionally extenuating circumstances, to be determined on a case-by-case basis.
The ARLC's move comes after chairman Peter V'Landys had previously described R360 as a competition out of "cereal box", believing it was little threat to the NRL.
But the ongoing links with NRL stars Payne Haas, Zac Lomax and Ryan Papenhuyzen had other stakeholders worried, with V'Landys and the ARLC urged to act on the threat of the rebel competition.
"The Commission has a clear duty to act in the best interests of Rugby League and its fans-and we will take all necessary steps to protect the future of the game," V'Landys said in a statement on Wednesday. "Unfortunately, there will always be organisations that seek to pirate our game for potential financial gain.
"They don't invest in pathways or the development of players -they simply exploit the hard work of others, putting players at risk of financial loss while profiting themselves. They are, in reality, counterfeiting a code.
"Accordingly if it all goes wrong it's the players who suffer most. Every stakeholder must be accountable to the standards our fans expect. We've listened to our Clubs, and we've acted decisively."
The ARLC's decision follows that of a group of elite rugby unions, including those of Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland, South Africa and France, who issued a joint statement saying that any player who joined R360 would be deemed ineligible for Test rugby.
R360 has also not been sanctioned by global rugby stewards, World Rugby, despite both parties having previously stated they were keen for open dialogue.
More to follow ...