NRL and NRLW teams can finally breathe easier after the league announced the salary cap for the 2023 season on Thursday, with a record-breaking number for both male and female players.

In a statement, the NRL confirmed that the salary cap would increase from $9.6 million in 2022 to $12.1 million in 2023, a 25 per cent increase. The cap for top 30 players will also lift to a record-breaking $11.45 million, up 22 per cent from 2022.

It also confirmed that the salary cap for the development list will lift from $240,000 to $650,000.

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As for the Women’s Premiership, the salary cap will increase by 153 per cent to $884,000.

“To ensure players share in this unprecedented increase, the NRL has announced that the minimum salary for all male players in a club’s top 30 NRL squad will grow to $120,000,” the NRL added in its statement.

“As a result of today’s announcement, players who have the standard form ratchet clause in their playing contract will receive an 18 per cent increase to their playing fee, with the increase to be effective from 1 November, resulting in a well timed year end bonus.

“Whilst the RLPA and NRL continue negotiations, the parties had extended the current amended CBA. The above increases will be in addition to the players’ entitlements under the current amended CBA while the parties continue negotiations in good faith.”

Prominent sports journalist Phil Rothfield was among a host of other big names in the rugby league world to voice their concerns over the NRL’s delay in finalising the salary cap.

“Nathan Brown is like a lot of players in the NRL - Marty Taupau is another one - that are waiting for the salary cap to be finalised and it’s causing enormous problems across the game,” Rothfield said on Sky Sports Radio’s ‘Big Sports Breakfast’ earlier this week.

“A player like Matt Lodge at the Roosters has actually signed a contract with the Roosters but it cannot be registered because they’d go over the salary cap and it hasn’t been increased yet.

“The Wests Tigers are waiting for finalisation of the salary cap also before they can formulate their actual offer to Nathan Brown and what Nathan Brown does is going to have a knock on effect around the game because I think Marty Taupau will finish up at Parramatta once they have the cap space from Nathan Brown going, so it’s still really, really messy.

“It’s not right on a lot of these players, that they’re being held up by these CBA negotiations.”

Fellow journalist Dean Ritchie echoed similar sentiments, revealing a conversation he had with Panthers CEO Matt Cameron about the difficulties of finalising a roster without the salary cap figures in place.

“I spoke to Matt Cameron the Panthers CEO yesterday and they’ve only got 26 players on their books, they’ve got four to go and they want to sign a couple but they cannot do a thing,” Ritchie said.

“He said ‘I cannot do anything until we know what this final figure is’ for the salary cap.

“So there is a lot of people out there locked in a holding pattern until this damn CBA gets done, it’s been going since February and I do fear it won’t be done until the new year.”