The long-awaited R360 threat has finally hit the NRL with Storm fan favourite Ryan Papenhuyzen and Kangaroos three-quarter Zac Lomax quitting their clubs and the sport. While the first salvo has come under the shroud of mystery with neither player revealing their future plans, this war over the elite talent of the NRL is far more likely to escalate than it is to evaporate over the next two years.
It is the first truly external threat to the NRL’s hold on its talent in nearly a quarter-century, since a newly professional and cock-a-hoop Rugby Australia (then known as the ARU) used its brief surge in relative popularity – spurred by the public’s disenchantment with rugby league following the Super League War – to sign big-name NRL players Wendell Sailor, Mat Rogers and Lote Tuqiri. It is a threat the NRL should take extremely seriously, even if R360’s attempt to sign a host of rugby league stars will not truly cut at the heart of the 13-man game and its ongoing viability.
