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Rugby great and royal family member Mike Tindall has hit back at the NRL for claiming his breakaway R360 rugby competition has been targeting Aussie stars, saying league bosses have got the situation completely wrong.
NRL officials like ARL Commission chairman Peter V'landys have angrily lashed out at the rebel competition, accusing it of trying to get stars to break contract and defect for huge paydays.
The league even threatened to ban players for 10 years if they signed with R360.
Now Tindall, who is in Australia for the Magic Millions horse race with wife Zara, has returned serve.
'We didn't target anyone,' Tindall told News Corp.
'NRL players and their agents approached us. We didn't go after them.
Rugby great and royal family member Mike Tindall (pictured with wife Zara) has hit back at the NRL over criticism of the rebel R360 rugby competition
Tindall (pictured with former NRL star Billy Slater this week) is the face of R360
NRL supremo Peter V'landys accused R360 of 'hoodwinking' the league's stars to get them to defect and described the competition as a 'mirage'
'We're a rugby union competition. NRL players are fine athletes, but only those who could play in the back three [winger and fullback] could make the transition.
'Sam Burgess went from South Sydney to the England team [for the 2015 Rugby Union World Cup] and he didn't find it easy.'
Tindall said NRL players believe they are being left physically exhausted by the demands of the game as it keeps getting quicker and the seasons lengthen, with some stars who approached R360 voicing their desire to play less football.
The 2025 campaign went for 27 rounds of home-and-away football, with some of the game's top stars also playing finals footy, three State of Origin matches and representative games for their countries.
In November last year, R360's start date was delayed from this year until 2028.
That led to V'landys stating that stars who'd reportedly signed with the competition were the 'victims of the mirage'.
'(It's) no surprise. Their current business model was never going to work. It's a shame so many people were hoodwinked,' V'landys said.
When the 10-year ban threat was announced, the NRL said the rule would apply to any competition that is not recognised as a national sporting organisation by the ARL Commission.
Former Melbourne Storm star Ryan Papenhuyzen is in footy limbo after reportedly leaving the NRL to join R360 before the competition's launch was delayed by two years
'The Commission has a clear duty to act in the best interests of rugby league and its fans,' V'landys said.
'We will take all necessary steps to protect the future of the game.
'Unfortunately, there will always be organisations that seek to pirate our game for potential financial gain.
'They don't invest in pathways or the development of players.
'They simply exploit the hard work of others, putting players at risk of financial loss while profiting themselves.
'They are, in reality, counterfeiting a code.'
It has been reported that former NRL stars Ryan Papenhuyzen and Zac Lomax were released from their contracts with Melbourne and Parramatta respectively so they could join R360.
They are now in footy limbo, with their immediate futures uncertain despite the NRL saying they would be welcomed back to the league.
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