Phil Gould has fired off a blunt question after it was revealed that Peter V’landys is plotting a million-dollar salary-cap plan in his bid to poach star athletes from rugby and other rival codes.
“Why do we need to get back at rugby?” Gould said on Nine’s 100% Footy.
On Sunday, Nine’s Danny Weidler revealed that V’landys, the ARL Commission chairman, was looking to give clubs $1 million in salary-cap relief for prising gun athletes away from the 15-man game.
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The revelation followed two major movements amid the code war: Roosters whiz-kid Joseph Suaalii signing with the Wallabies and Waratahs, and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck agreeing to a return to the Warriors after his defection to the All Blacks and Blues.
“This is a ridiculous idea,” Gould said of V’landys’ salary-cap ploy.
“All it’s going to do is inflate the market.
“How will domestic players feel if we can go out and pay some bloke $800,000 (per year) just so we’re getting back at rugby? Why do we need to get back at rugby?
“Rugby is no threat to us whatsoever.
“They’re two different games. I’ll tell you this: their players can’t play our game and our players can’t play their game.”
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NFL stars are on V’landys’ hit-list.
There’s the high-profile story of western Sydney’s Jordan Mailata being spat out by rugby league but finding his size-18 feet in the NFL.
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In 2021, the former Bulldogs and Rabbitohs junior famously signed a four-year deal which, through performance clauses, could secure him A$108 million.
The offensive tackle was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles outfit that lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2023 Super Bowl.
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Weidler recently revealed on 100% Footy that NRL stars Nathan Cleary, Matt Burton and Cameron Murray were on the radar of Wallabies coach Eddie Jones.
Suliasi Vunivalu, Marika Koroibete and Semi Radradra are among the former NRL stars now playing rugby union, while teen Waratahs freak Max Jorgenson trained with the Roosters as a schoolboy.
Gould isn’t fazed by rugby’s raid on the NRL.
“I’m not scared of rugby.”
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