The NRL are set to bring in new sanctions for clubs, players or agents caught breaching the November 1 free agency deadline and other anti-tampering restrictions.

Under current NRL rules, players are only able to negotiate with other clubs from November 1 in the year prior to their contract expiring.

Every player off-contract at the end of 2026 was just recently able to begin negotiating their futures away from their current clubs for 2027 and beyond.

The only reason that rule can be breached is if a player and club agree that player can seek a new club either immediately or at the end of their contract in advance of that date.

For a lengthy period of time however, eyebrows have been raised, and questions asked around whether that deadline is actually adhered to.

Those questions, and others around the entire NRL contracting process, have been asked louder this year following a number of incidents of players being linked or shopped to rival clubs, led by the Lachlan Galvin fiasco in the middle of the year where he ultimately landed at the Canterbury Bulldogs despite having years to run on his deal at the Wests Tigers.

That played out in the media, with Canterbury director of football Phil Gould regularly involved in the discussions around a player now at the club he runs.

Now, according to The Sydney Morning Herald, a host of new sanctions are set to be brought in if clubs or player agents either:

Contact an agent or player to discuss the future of a player if they are not a free agent.
Make public comment that is deemed to be enticing or inducing a player to break a contract.
Shop a contracted player from their own club to a rival club without prior permission from that player.

It’s understood Galvin’s situation had a large bearing on the NRL beginning work on tightening the rules.

The blocking of public comments around players’ futures will see a number of figures in the game blocked from commenting on either players at their own or rival clubs, and player agents from doing the same for their clients.

It’s understood the new rules will be enforced from December 1, and that the new rules have been drawn up in consultation with the RLPA.