Manly skipper Jamie Lyon says players will always value a premiership ring over financial gain despite the Rugby League Players' Association claiming the stars of the game are disillusioned about the lack of money available to them.
After meeting with leading NRL and club officials on Wednesday, RLPA chief executive David Garnsey warned that rival codes would continue to tempt rugby league's finest with lucrative offers unless the 13-a-side game increased payments.
The RLPA has put a 10-point list of demands to the NRL as part of a proposed new collective bargaining arrangement.
Among the players' demands is a lift in the salary cap and greater remuneration for representative games and finals matches.
"They're footballers and they want to be playing rugby league if they can but if they’re going to have the shutters continuously put up and told them there's no more to be had - and there are lucrative offers elsewhere - it's only natural that they would consider those," Garnsey said.
"Faced with offers that they're getting, sometimes the temptation becomes too great."
"These are not extravagant claims that they're making."
But Lyon insists titles, not money, are what motivate players.
"That's what you play for, the premiership. Everyone's going out there to win the ring," he said.
"I think it's the biggest lure out there. You don't look at the money – when you win you look at the ring."
Despite Lyon's apparent ambivalence towards the RLPA push, Garnsey claims the NRL's top players are leading the campaign for change.
"They're very keen for these things to happen. We've been talking to the players over a number of months and these propositions we've been putting forward are very much driven by the players," he said.
"I don’t think we've made an ambit claim. They're not unrealistic about it. They know there's a limited amount of funds to go around."
"The players should have a voice and some say in direction of the game and through us I think that's what they'll achieve."