MARK Gasnier has urged the NRL to get tough on players who walk out on clubs midway through their deals, suggesting a tightening of contracts that would hit the player where it hurts — in the hip pocket.

As speculation continues to swirl that Semi Radradra has left Parramatta for good after he boarded a plane for Fiji on Saturday — a possibility that has been emphatically rejected by the Eels — Gasnier said the NRL should implement a fine system for players who disrespect their contracts.

“All I want to see is the game to be consistent,” Gasnier said on Fox Sports’ NRL Sunday Ticket.

Round 19

“If it’s going to be a full on business, then also put a clause in the player’s contract, so that if they’re going to leave a club they should be obliged to pay the club back (what the remainder of their contract is worth).

“SBW eventually did (after walking out on the Bulldogs to join French rugby) but that was a player transfer fee.

“The club (Toulon) paid the transfer fee. If you’re bound in your contract, you’re thinking twice about walking out.

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“If you walk out in that instance and you’ve got to cough up a fine, different story.”

The Eels on Saturday released a statement saying they expect Radradra to return from Fiji in time for the club’s next match against Cronulla in a fortnight’s time.

Radradra’s father has been unwell for some time, which, the Eels say, is why their prized winger has been granted permission to return to his homeland.

However there have for some months been lingering reports that Radradra is unhappy at Parramatta and is eyeing a move abroad for a big-money rugby union deal in Europe.

French club Bordeax has been strongly linked to the Eels sensation.

Gasnier said he hoped Radradra would return but said the player’s management had “a lot to answer for” if rumours the Kangaroos winger had quit the club were true.

“If that’s the case and it’s not the personal issues, then I’ll reiterate what I said yesterday, it’s poor form,” Gasnier said.

“There is a way to go about things and walking out isn’t the first one.

“If they’re (the player and the club) further down the track in negotiations and there’s a lot of things we don’t know and it got to the point where he thought it was the best way forward, which I don’t see how, then so be it.

“But I think his management’s got a lot to answer for too.

“At the end of the day you’re not the one negotiating with the clubs, you’re probably getting driven by advice from (your management).

“You wonder what he’s being told.”

The writer is on Twitter @glover—benny

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