Yes. Once a player enters the final 12 months of their contract, they are permitted to negotiate with other clubs about their future.

Incumbent clubs are allowed to negotiate with current players at any time (e.g. offering contract extensions).

A player’s current club can choose to talk about or negotiate a new deal before the final 12 months of a player’s contract.

However, players can’t negotiate with other clubs during this period, unless their current club gives them written permission. 

Rugby league is the most brutal contact team sport in the world and a career-ending injury can happen at any time during a match or at training.

Careers are also typically short (average is just four seasons), compared with employment in other industries, and competition for a limited number of contracts is high.

Contract years in the NRL and NRLW begin on November 1 which gives players the ability to secure their future in that final year, before their employment ends (remember that players don’t have a contract as of the following 1 November – they have to go and try and secure future employment).

This ability to have certainty over their future provides players and their families with much needed security.

While the average career length is short, players deserve the chance to secure their next opportunity without unnecessary risk. 

NRL: No blackout periods. 

NRLW: Yes — players are restricted from negotiating during the Finals unless their club grants permission.

Not necessarily. Players can only negotiate with other clubs during the final year of their contract — unless their current club provides permission earlier.

Current clubs can offer deals to their players earlier if they want to.

Restricting players from negotiating from a date beyond November 1 would unfairly put their careers at risk, and players fought hard to protect this right through their collective bargaining agreement (CBA). 

A longer contracting window also gives clubs greater opportunity and flexibility to build rosters and replace players rather than forcing decision-making into a finite window that would create risk and increase roster uncertainty.

Our system promotes player movement which, arguably, plays a significant role in making our competitions the most competitively balanced in the world.

Yes. The current system is part of the CBA, but it can be changed if the NRL and RLPA agree.

More significant changes, however, usually happen during CBA negotiations — the next one is due in 2027 for the 2028 season and beyond.

Options are conditional clauses (“maybes”) built into a contract that give the player, the club, or both parties the choice to extend the agreement in the future.

There are three types: 

• Club Option: Only the club decides whether to extend. 

• Player Option: Only the player decides whether to extend. 

• Mutual Option: Both the club and player must agree to extend. 

For example, a player may sign a five-year deal where only the first two years are guaranteed. The remaining three years could be Player Options, giving the player the choice each year whether to continue or move on.

Clubs also utilise options as an effective means of restricting players from negotiating from 1 November. For example, a club might have an option on a player in their last year that must be exercised by a certain date (let’s say 1 May). The practical effect is that the player is agreeing not to negotiate with other clubs until that date (and only if the option isn’t exercised).

Options do not officially form part of a term of a contract until they are exercised, which is why player options are not made public until that point.

Read more RLPA Policy Positions and FAQs.