The NRL is set to introduce a ‘Phil Gould rule’ following the highly controversial Lachlan Galvin saga.
According to Code Sports, the NRL will soon introduce a gag order for club officials, prohibiting them and player agents from making public or private comments about the future of contracted players in a bid to firm up the November 1 anti-tampering deadline.
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It is understood that the players’ union has endorsed the new set of rules. It is a deliberate move from the NRL to crack down on speculation surrounding players who are not in the final year of their contracts.
The significant change to the rules comes after Galvin controversially switched from the Wests Tigers to the Canterbury Bulldogs with more than a year and a half remaining on his contract.
When Galvin’s future at the joint venture became increasingly uncertain, Gould sang the praises of the half, labelling him “the best teenage footballer I’ve ever seen”, who could “earn more money out of rugby league than any player in history”.
Those comments raised concerns over if Gould was trying to further unsettle the star, while also trying to woo him to the Dogs, who at the time were at the top of the NRL ladder.
While his comments were frowned upon, at the time, they were within the rules.
But if the same incident were to occur next season, under the new rules, Gould’s comments could lead to heavy sanctions.
Potential penalties for breaking the new anti-tampering rules include fines, salary cap sanctions and even deregistration.
But it isn’t only Gould, who will have to be careful about what he says next year.
The new rules will also impact Matty Johns, who now has shares in the Gold Coast Titans and is also a notable media figure.
Things are even trickier for Braith Anasta, who is contracted by several current NRL players as their agent and is also a popular Fox Sports host.
The NRL is also set to crack down on existing rules around clubs shopping players without their knowledge or permission.
Agents and clubs are unable to enter player negotiations until a player enters the final year of his deal on November 1, and that is a rule the NRL is set to police more diligently moving forward.
Originally published as NRL to introduce new ‘Phil Gould rule’ after Lachlan Galvin farce