The use of ratchet clauses to ensure the NRL's top talent receive pay rises linked to any salary cap increase when the new broadcasting deal takes effect has divided clubs on how best to skirt around lingering uncertainty surrounding the player payment pool for 2018.
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As NRL clubs prepare for a frenzied month to lock down a stellar cast of stars before they become free agents next month, the use of the highly controversial ratchet clauses has emerged as a key factor in closing stalled negotiations for players off-contract at the end of 2017.
A number of NRL clubs watching ongoing Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations which won't provide a clear picture on the NRL salary cap for 2018 any time soon, have turned to the tool to urge stars to commit their futures and warn off rival suitors.
A ratchet clause can be inserted into a deal and commit a club to spending a percentage of its overall salary cap on a player – or guarantee a portion of whatever rise is agreed to from its $7 million level in 2017 – when the final figure is known for 2018.
Up to 20 per cent of players – generally those who are in the top half-dozen earners in their squad – at some clubs are understood to be turning to the mechanism to provide more certainty around their long-term futures when there is little around the ongoing salary cap.
But ratchet clauses have been shunned by a number of administrators from other NRL clubs, who have preferred to budget on the salary cap rising to a minimum projected level of $9 million for 2018 and have tabled offers accordingly.
Ex-NRL boss Dave Smith was a vocal opponent of ratchet clauses, but its role has again come to the fore in the current malaise.
The powerful Player Agents Association only last month increased pressure on the NRL to fast track its intentions around the salary cap for 2018 given its frustration at the market stalling.
It also pushing for a substantial increase in the minimum wage for top 25 contracted players, which currently stands at $82,500.
Clubs are becoming increasingly motivated to lock up their stars well in advance of 12 months before the deal expires – Penrith extended the contract of representative back-rower Trent Merrin barely six months into a three-year deal – and are hoping the trend continues.
Premiers Cronulla face the biggest scramble in a clouded market, given stars Jack Bird, Valentine Holmes, Wade Graham and Ben Barba are all off-contract at the end of next season.
Darius Boyd, Anthony Milford, Josh Reynolds, Johnathan Thurston, Jason Taumalolo, Greg Inglis, Blake Ferguson, Mitchell Pearce and James Tedesco are just some of the other big names set to join them in a frenzied market.
