League icon Billy Slater has urged both the NRL and Rugby League Players Association to “grow up” as the players’ media boycott nears a whole month.
The bitter pay dispute shows no sign of ending between the two parties, with players still refusing to speak to the media on game days.
Slater did not mince his words when asked about his thoughts on the media boycott.
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“Seriously, grow up. Both parties need to grow up and just work this out,” he told Wide World of Sports’ The Billy Slater Podcast.
“The players not talking to the media, this is getting ridiculous now. Can we just grow up and just work this out? I don’t understand.
“To watch a game of footy and not hear from the players after the game, I don’t understand how we can’t sit down and work something out.”
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Slater admitted that he didn’t mind the media boycott initially, but suggested it had dragged on far too long.
”I didn’t feel like this when it first happened, like make your point, fair enough, (but) that was three weeks ago, we were in Origin camp. That was so long ago,” he said.
RLPA explains media boycott
“We’ve got pretty good communication these days, you can pick up the phone, you can get on a zoom call, you can actually go and see people, let’s sort this out.
“That’s the growing up part that I don’t understand.
“For this to drag out for three weeks, people are just too stubborn, that’s all it is. What’s three weeks?
“Are we going to go to three months? Is this going to go through the finals? It’s not necessary.”
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