How Much Do Rugby League Players Earn?
Rugby League has been professional since 1898, three years after splitting from Rugby Football. League has been professional for 97 years longer than Rugby Union, which only turned professional in 1995. How much do Rugby League players get paid?
The best rugby league competitions in the world are the National Rugby League (NRL) in Australia and the Super League in Great Britain (and Europe). Both organisations work under a salary cap, which allows teams to work within an equally structured budget. The salary cap was introduced to even the playing field and keep the NRL and Super League competitive.
There are seventeen clubs in the NRL, sixteen from Australia, and one from New Zealand. Super League has twelve clubs, ten from the north of England, one from London, and one from France. Clubs cannot spend more than their salary cap. This keeps clubs sustainable and spreads the best players around the leagues.
Image for Super League: Warriors versus Rabbitohs
Unlike the English Premier League’s unlimited salaries and wealth, there is a limit on what a rugby league player can earn in a season, and how much a team can spend. Salary caps stop clubs hoarding talented young players or buying the best players because of financial might.
This does not mean players cannot make more money. Endorsements, sponsorships, and image rights allow rugby league players to increase their earnings outside the salary cap. The better the player, the more money they will make. SportsBoom breaks down the intricacies of the salary cap in rugby league.
Image for Manly Sea Eagles playing the Sydney Roosters
How Much Do NRL Players Get Paid?
The National Rugby League (NRL) increased the NRL and National Rugby League Women’s Premier League (NRLW) salary cap to a record-breaking level for male and female players in 2023. The NRL Premiership salary cap increased from AUD$9.6m in 2022 to $12.1m in 2023, a 25% increase that saw the players fill their boots with a well-earned payday for playing one of the most physical sports in the world.
Kalyn Ponga is the highest-paid rugby league player in the NRL. Ponga earned $1.4m (more than seven hundred thousand pounds) playing for the Newcastle Knights. Ponga is reigning 2023 Dally M Medal winner and one of league’s most talented fullbacks.
Image for Lock Cameron Murray playing for Rabbitohs
The top ten NRL players earn above one million Australian dollars (more than half a million pounds) per season. The next best-paid by positions not in the top ten are locks Tohu Harris and Cameron Murray. They $950,000 for their efforts in the second row. Valentine Holmes is the highest-paid centre, earning $875,000, but is not on the top ten list of best-paid league stars.
Winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and hooker Brandon Smith make $800,000. Female rugby league players get paid a fraction of what the men earn. The highest-paid female rugby league player earns a minimum $34,000, while the minimum men’s salary is $100,000. Like all sports, the battle for equal pay is ongoing.
Top 10 Highest-Paid NRL Rugby League Players 2024
| Rank | Player | Club | Aus Dollar | British Pound |
| 1 | Kalyn Ponga | Newcastle Knights | $1.4m | £712.768 |
| 2 | Nathan Cleary | Penrith Panthers | $1.3m | £661,850 |
| 3 | Cameron Munster | Melbourne Storm | $1.25m | £632,466 |
| 4 | Daly Cherry-Evans | Manly Sea Eagles | $1.2m | £610,939 |
| =5 | Luke Brookes | Wests Tigers | $1.15m | £585,483 |
| =5 | Tom Trbojevic | Manly Sea Eagles | $1.15m | £585,483 |
| =7 | Ben Hunt | Dragons | $1.1m | £560,028 |
| =8 | James Tedesco | Sydney Roosters | $1.1m | £560,028 |
| =8 | Addin Fonua-Blake | New Zealand Warriors | $1.1m | £560,028 |
| 10 | Mitchell Moses | Parramatta Eels | $1.05m | £534,546 |
The average NRL player’s salary is $371,000 per year. In 2023, the NRL base salary cap for the top thirty players was $9.118m. There is $188,000 for the Veteran and Developed Player Allowance. Players eligible for these benefits include those developed by one team before becoming NRL players and have been a top thirty player for eight years at a club and ten years across the game.
A $94,000 Motor Vehicle Allowance is included for five cars for players in the top thirty. This is outside the salary cap valued at $18,800 each. The NRL contributes $300,000 per team towards the Rugby League Player Association (RLPA) players’ Retirement Account Contribution, and $100,000 per club towards administration funding.
Image for Kalyn Ponga
How Much Do Female Rugby League Players Get Paid in the NRLW?
The Salary cap for the NRL Women’s Premiership (NRLW) in the 2024 season for clubs is AUD$1,020,000, up from $900,000 in 2023. NRLW squad sizes are twenty-eight players maximum, including four development players. The minimum wage for contracted players is $34,000, an increase of $4,000 from $30,000 in 2023.
The NRLW salary cap will increase to $1,254,000 in 2025, $1,386,000 in 2026, and $1,518,000 in 2027. The minimum wage for female rugby league players in Australia will be $41,800 next season, $46,200 in 2026, and $50,600 in 2027.
Australia’s greatest rugby league and union rivalry is the State of Origin series between New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland (QLD). The series is contested every year between men’s and women’s teams. Female players earned $15,000 per game in the 2024 Women’s State of Origin series.
Image for Super League clubs, Wigan and Warrington
How Much Do Super League Players Earn?
Super League is Great Britain’s professional rugby league competition. Super League is not as transparent as the National Rugby League in Australia. Britain’s national rugby league contracts are discrete, and difficult to find accurate data on individual salaries.
The Super League salary cap has been frozen at £2.1m for five years. There are twenty-five players in a squad, which amounts to an average yearly salary of £84,000. A third marquee player spot for homegrown talent has been added in 2023. This change is to encourage Super League clubs to develop British players.
Image for Super League: Catalans versus St Helens
Super League wants to retain British players by reducing the amount they cost on the salary cap and to stop players from going abroad or joining rugby union clubs. Club-trained marquee players will count as £50,000 on the salary cap, down from £75,000 in the previous years.
Federation-trained marquee players will count as £100,000, down from £150,000, while overseas marquee players will remain at £150,000. A substantial increase in the Player Welfare Allowance from £15,000 to £50,000 per annum, has been agreed. Under-21 players will be exempt from a team’s wage bill, which rose from £25,000 to £30,000.
Image for Super League: Warrington versus Catalan Dragons
Kaylan Geekie is a sports fanatic. He attended Durban High School before moving to Scotland, where he lived for 15 years. During his time in the United Kingdom, Kaylan graduated with a first-class BA Honours Degree in Sports Journalism at the University of the West of Scotland. Kaylan worked for nine years as the Match-Day Editor of SuperXV.com, reporting on Super Rugby, The Rugby Championship, the 2015 Men's Rugby World Cup and the 2017 British & Irish Lions series for the website.