Cleary hits out at Tago transfer rumours

The NRL presented several models for a transfer window, including mid-season and off-season trade periods, during the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement talks with players in 2023 – but faced significant opposition.

Those protracted negotiations eventually led to the most recent push for trade windows being shelved to reach an eventual compromise with the RLPA.

The game’s next CBA will be negotiated once the game’s next broadcast deals (both the NRL’s free-to-air and pay TV contracts expire at the end of 2027) and long-term salary cap are locked in.

The RLPA has regularly argued against trade periods as an unnecessary restriction on player movements and future planning, and would not dull the focus of media and fans on signings in any case.

The AFL’s post-season trade period generates significant off-season interest, though contract talks still dominate the code’s media coverage all year as well.

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Asked if transfer windows would take the sting out of rugby league’s rumour mill, Cleary said: “We’ve certainly seen in other sports, it adds to that period where there’s build-up to it and fans can get involved in it.

“The way we run now, on a daily basis, we’re almost having recruitment meetings. It’s crazy.”

The Panthers will lose Scott Sorensen and Liam Henry to the new Perth Bears franchise in 2027, while the club has big names in Yeo, Liam Martin, Brian To’o, Blaize Talagi, Isaiah Papali’i and Moses Leota coming off contract from November 1.