R360 – the touted financially lucrative rebel rugby competition, which has led to 10-year threats from the NRL and international unions banning players – is on the brink of falling over before it has even started.
The Roar understands that in the absence of financial backers, the competition, which organisers hoped to have up and running inside 12 months, is all but dead in the water.
Player agents, who stood to earn a great deal from the new competition, have all but given up hope of the Formula One-style tournament being established within the next two years.
It’s understood that unless R360’s organisers provide new details of the competition by December 1, several player agents will walk away from negotiations.
Mike Tindall’s spruiked R360 is unlikely to get up and running. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
The writing has been on the wall for weeks.
After agents were told to get ready for new details on October 1, the goalposts were moved the deeper the month went on.
Then they were told that complete papers would be sent in Docusign at the end of the November Tests.
That date is officially December 1, as an understrength Welsh side hosts a depleted, albeit still powerful, Springboks side in Cardiff on Sunday (AEDT).
Agents have been concerned by the deathly silence that competition officials have been operating under in recent months.
But one of the telltale signs was when Clinton Schifcofske – the former Queensland Maroons and Reds outside back, who spent a couple of years at Ulster – suddenly said he was ceasing negotiations with R360 organisers.
Schifcofske’s former agent, and a key R360 figure, Mark Spoors, was a leading reason why several of Schicofske’s players, including multiple Wallabies and NRL stars, had signed conditional contracts to join the competition.
The extraordinary decision to step back occurred just hours after Zac Lomax, the State of Origin winger, was granted an early release from his four-year deal with NRL side, the Parramatta Eels.
Zac Lomax’s hopes of a mega pay day are all but over. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
As part of the release, Lomax is not allowed to play for a rival NRL side until the end of 2028.
Lomax has since been shopped around, including in France.
But with the French Top 14, PRO D2 and United Rugby Championship underway, finding a new home at this stage of the year isn’t likely to be easy. That includes in Japan’s League One and Two competitions.
The United States Major League Rugby competition could also provide a place to land for Lomax, but likely only if R360 gets up and running.
“I haven’t spoken to those players in particular, but we’ve spoken to agents about it, and they’re all looking at what would be the right pathway for those guys if R360 starts in October,” former Wallaby turned Californian Legion director of rugby Stephen Hoiles said.
Lomax could try his hand in Super Rugby, but he’d have to take a huge pay cut to find a new home around ten weeks out from the start of the 2026 competition.
Some agents, who are working with NRL stars, are still holding out hope that R360 gets up because of the huge money promised.
They all believe the clock is ticking though, and unless R360 organisers turn water into wine overnight, it’s a dead duck.
Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh says his governing body will keep an “ear to the ground” on any further R360 developments. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images)
Sources have told The Roar that Rugby Australia, who was one of eight national unions to come out last month and say that any player who signs with the rebel competition won’t be eligible for international honours, isn’t currently concerned about the threat of R360 getting up.
But RA CEO Phil Waugh did say the governing body wouldn’t bury its head in the sand regarding the proposed tournament.
“There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge until it gets off the ground,” the former Wallaby told SEN earlier this week.
“But we’ve got our eyes wide open and ears close to the ground, and we’ll keep open dialogue to ensure that it’s not disruptive to rugby in Australia, and it adds something if it goes ahead.”
Another high-profile international union executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said it was no surprise that the competition had fallen over.
“How’s that new news?” he said when contacted by The Roar on Wednesday evening.
“Everyone’s been saying that for a while.”
For now, agents are asking what Jerry Maguire famously said: “Show me the money.”
Until that happens, R360 won’t get off the ground.