“Happy days, baby, the big boys are finally getting paid.”

Aaron Woods isn’t getting paid. Not significantly, anyway. On an $80,000 supplementary NRL contract this season, along with $3000 match payments each time he runs out for Manly, the veteran front-rower will earn just 10 per cent of the salary he once pocketed.

But in a rugby league landscape dominated by a small number of elite props, market forces have lifted the next tier of front-rowers into a surprising earning bracket.

The same market, still feeling the impact of Covid-19 four years on from the pandemic’s outbreak, has kept Woods in the game when he was ready to retire.

Effectively, the best props are already locked down via lucrative long-term contracts. The next generation has yet to arrive, and the few front-rowers who come on to the market are in high demand from clubs in need of muscle and manpower up front.

The Roosters have offered rising 24-year-old Terrell May a two-year extension worth around $400,000 a season, which would double the salary he earned in his breakout 2023 campaign for the club.

2024

Terrell May, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (Roosters), Braden Hamlin-Uele (Sharks), Josh Papalii (Raiders, player option) Jordan McLean (Cowboys), Aaron Woods, Matt Lodge (Sea Eagles), Martin Taupau (Broncos), Francis Molo (Dragons), Jesse Bromwich, Jarrod Wallace (Dolphins), Max King (Bulldogs), Shaquai Mitchell (Rabbitohs).

2025

Spencer Leniu (Roosters), Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Joe Ofahengaue (Eels), Reuben Cotter (Cowboys), Stefano Utoikamanu (Tigers), Royce Hunt, Oregon Kaufusi (Sharks), Tui Kamikamica (Storm), Bunty Afoa (Warriors), Josh Aloiai (Sea Eagles), Emre Guler (Raiders), Jack Hetherington (Knights), Josh Kerr (Dolphins), Davvy Moale (Rabbitohs), Ryan Sutton (Bulldogs), Xavier Willison (Broncos).

On the open market, though, talks with rival clubs have seen May’s price tag rise to over $500,000 a year. Canterbury had prepared a $1.5 million, three-year offer before growing frustrated with negotiations and opting out.

In a market short on front-rowers, Braden Hamlin-Uele’s choice between long-term offers from Cronulla and the Warriors – the latter clocking in at more than $650,000 per year – highlights the clamour for reliable power forwards in the six-again era.

QOSHE - ‘The big boys are getting paid’: Why front-rowers are NRL’s hottest property - Dan Walsh
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‘The big boys are getting paid’: Why front-rowers are NRL’s hottest property

13 9
18.02.2024

“Happy days, baby, the big boys are finally getting paid.”

Aaron Woods isn’t getting paid. Not significantly, anyway. On an $80,000 supplementary NRL contract this season, along with $3000 match payments each time he runs out for Manly, the veteran front-rower will earn just 10 per cent of the salary he once pocketed.

But in a rugby league landscape dominated by a small number of elite props, market forces have lifted the next tier of front-rowers into a surprising earning bracket.

The same market, still feeling the impact of Covid-19 four years on from........

© The Sydney Morning Herald


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