KEY POINTS:
Mark Gasnier's shift to French rugby may or may not open the floodgates for a raft of NRL players to shift to the Northern Hemisphere but it puts the focus on the earning power of league as opposed to other codes.
Gasnier may be a flop in rugby, as were any number of other league stars - former Great Britain captain Andy Farrell can't make the England team and is no star in club competition.
If he does prosper, however, there is the prospect of French talent scouts and player managers scouring the backblocks of Queensland and New South Wales, as well as New Zealand, in search of the next Gasnier. They'll be joined by the management of the two new Super League clubs that are to be admitted to that competition from 2010.
League's problem is that its income is shrinking rapidly because of new poker machine taxes in Australia and its television rights deal is nowhere near as good as it should be because it is with 50 per cent owner News Ltd.
League is the most-watched sport in Australia yet its TV deal is around A$200 million less than Australian Rules receives.
And AFL is expanding, moving into west Sydney with promise of a second Sydney team by 2012 and commitment from the Blacktown City Council to spend $30 million on a stadium for them.
Gasnier is exploiting a get-out clause in his contract because third-party sponsorship payments arranged outside the salary cap fell between A$50,000 and A$100,000 short of what was promised. He's still on A$400,000 a year from St George.
The contract was negotiated in 2006, in the face of a big offer from rugby via Ewen McKenzie who was then the Waratahs coach and has since moved to Stade Francais. And McKenzie now has his man at a reported A$1 million a year for two years. Next season, there will be 96 former NRL players in rugby and league competitions in the Northern Hemisphere.
The danger for league is that if Gasnier makes it, the next targets will be Storm sensations Greg Inglis, Billy Slater and Israel Folau, Kiwi Krisnan Inu, and Manly fullback Brett Stewart. Already rumoured as next to go to France, joining Penrith halfback Craig Gower, who was first, and Panthers wing Luke Rooney, who goes next year, is Brisbane fullback Karmichael Hunt.
And Australian rugby continues to show interest - already the Wallabies include ex-NRL players Lote Tuquiri, Timana Tahu, Wycliff Palu, Ryan Cross and Berrick Barnes, plus Rocky Elsom, who played lower grades for the Bulldogs.
Players are in two camps over the issue: One, which includes the likes of Willie Mason and Sonny Bill Williams, that demands more money or else; the other including the likes of Australian captain Darren Lockyer and Manly stalwart Steve Menzies, that retain values like loyalty and gratitude, a thankful attitude for what they have.
Read between Lockyer's lines as to what he thinks about suggestions that the NRL should continue bending over to accommodate Gasnier: "We can't bend the rules just for a dozen or so players at the risk of potentially crippling the great product we have. If you're a good player, you're going to get offers from overseas for really good money. You have to weigh up whether the money is worth the change in lifestyle and walking away from your state and country.
"Obviously Gasnier thought he preferred to do all those things and do well for himself overseas. I wish him luck."
In the meantime, league is already busy wiping Gasnier's face from the forefront of its World Cup campaign. The Dragons centre is the last face featured in the 25 second TV advert for the competition in October/November after he and other NRL stars were flown to London for a video and photo shoot. The Australian Rugby League now wants that last five seconds of the ad wiped and changed to feature Smith, Folau and Lockyer.
