Should NRL player salaries be made public?

SEN's Jimmy Smith has renewed the discussion around publicising player salaries, calling for greater transparency around the salary cap in the NRL.

Entering 2026, the base salary cap for NRL clubs is $11.55 million dollars per club, spread across 30 players, with additional allowances increasing the base cap by $400,000.

Inspired by the NFL free agency period, Jimmy Smith believes adopting a similar system to the American market can provide greater clarity around the player market in the NRL.

In the NFL, player salaries are made public primarily due to the collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the Player’s Association.

Publicised player salaries in the NFL allow for greater fan engagement, but also ensure teams remain salary cap compliant, ending debate and speculation around ‘stacked’ teams.

“I was thinking about this yesterday… Kenneth Walker the 3rd signed from the Seattle Seahawks and he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs.

“$45 million over three seasons… immediately that brought context to the signing. Immediately, we knew exactly what he was getting paid.

“I've been going on about this for 15 years… why do we not have transparency about what players earn, especially within a salary cap environment?”

However, NRL legend Greg Alexander disagreed, believing salaries didn’t need to be formally published given how close the reported figures are generally.

“We're pretty close to it, like we're not that far off, and media reports are generally very close to the money,” Alexander responded.

“In me saying that, I'm guessing too. You've got a fair idea what they'd be getting, and if the player was not getting that, we'd hear about that too.

“While we bemoan managers and, maybe they do inflate sometimes, but generally speaking, we've got a fair idea… without a list being put in the paper, this is what everyone is on.”