7th Tackle: How Gus got it right on RCG

Everywhere you look, it seems Aussie athletes are taking militant action over pay.

Our cricketers are on the verge of being free agents thanks to a dispute with their governing body, while the threat of strikes and boycotts in rugby league won’t go away until the players’ union and NRL strike a deal.

And that doesn’t look like happening any time soon. Then there’s individual discontent.

MORE 7TH TACKLE:
* JT surgery saves more than NRL career
* DCE's utility to win the day in Origin
* Lee's unwanted quaddie of bombed tries
* Moses' baby dilemma
* The NRL's King of resilience
* Roberts weighs up big English bucks

If this season has been about anything in particular, it’s individual players rising up and demanding their full worth mid-contract.

James Maloney, Cody Walker and Nathan Ross have all broken ranks to ask for more.

But one club that’s always ahead of the curve on these issues is the Penrith Panthers.

All the team’s locally grown stars have been locked-up long term. Better still, they were secured well before they came off contract.

Boom prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard is a great example.

Campbell-Gillard isn’t available until the end of 2019, but his mid-season form surge has already seen rivals enquire about whether he’d be keen to leave early. It won’t happen.

And the reason is Penrith’s proactivity. Rather than wait until Campbell-Gillard’s good form starts to generate disgruntlement over his pay, Panthers boss Phil Gould voluntarily gave him an $80,000 salary upgrade as recognition.

The prop understood Gould was under no compulsion to pay him extra – and therefore appreciated the gesture even more.

It’s a smart move; and will most likely save Penrith in the long run by avoiding expensive and exhaustive bidding wars on the open market.