NRL boss Todd Greenberg will speak with the clubs on Wednesday. Credit:AAP After all, many clubs are angry the NRL has effectively reneged on the agreement to pay them 30 per cent on top of the salary cap by forcing them to now pay for some services, such as digital services and marketing, which were once funded by headquarters. NRL clubs will have a 4pm phone hook-up on Wednesday to discuss the RLPA's rejection of the now-expired offer, while players' association boss Ian Prendergast appears confident he has a few more days to negotiate. Prendergast, a former deputy chief executive of the AFLPA, is aware the AFL CBA with its players was finalised well after the deadline expired and may assume NRL clubs are as compliant as the AFL's. Prendergast met with the NRL on Monday and his own board later that evening and hoped to further discuss the CBA with NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg on Tuesday in between the latter's World Cup meetings.

The RLPA board comprises some uncompromising directors, including Cronulla five-eighth James Maloney, who has said the game's participants, other than players, are mere "accessories". However, over 450 players are already signed to their clubs for next year and are unlikely to put at risk a 52 per cent increase in salaries – a billion dollars over five years – the richest uplift in the Australian football codes and a bonanza, considering the rest of Australia hasn't had a pay rise in years. Players have lost much of their bargaining power, with no Auckland Nines or All Star game and doubts over the 2018 World Club Challenge, meaning there is nothing from which to withdraw their services – a strike – until next year's opening round. It's impossible a Johnathan Thurston or Cameron Smith testimonial would be boycotted. Threats of a lockout where clubs cease paying players their monthly salaries from November 1 appear hollow. While the clubs would have felt justified in not paying players if they had gone on strike, they are loathe to break player contracts, given they are separate agreements to a CBA. A lockout would certainly affect players on low incomes, while the superstars could rely on accumulated earnings. However, such draconian action could irreconcilably damage the relationship between clubs and their players.

The sticking point in the negotiations has been affordability. The RLPA want a pure revenue-sharing model where the players are paid 29.5 per cent of all revenue, excluding funds received from government for specific purposes. This fixed-percentage demand extends to future, yet to be determined revenue. The NRL argues costs should be factored in and point out it can't anticipate accurately future revenue streams, such as gate takings, or sponsorships. While NRL Central agreed to 29.5 per cent of guaranteed, budgeted revenue, it says a better formula for the split of future revenue should be to allocate it four ways, where the NRL, RLPA, clubs and grassroots each receive 25 per cent. Clubs suspect player managers have been shoring up the resolve of the RLPA. After all, agents receive up to 7 per cent of player contracts and the more the RLPA can extract from the game, the more the player managers receive. Their collective income is already in excess of the salary cap of one NRL club. Wednesday's conference call between the NRL and clubs will determine future action. While some clubs are adopting an aggressive attitude, it is from behind the safety of their own desks, with the NRL executive team responsible for the negotiations with the RLPA. However, some clubs are disappointed they have been kept in the dark about CBA developments, with a delegation of club bosses charged with briefing them, including Bulldogs' Raelene Castle, Warriors' Jim Doyle and Storm's Dave Donaghy, sidelined since August when negotiations intensified. .