Melbourne Storm chair Matt Tripp has appealed to NRL boss Peter V'landys not to use the NRL's money to chase rugby union stars and to instead invest in keeping the league's big names.
Storm has retained star prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona despite Rugby Australia's bid to lure him to union.
Tripp announced the premiership-winning forward had signed for another four years in Melbourne after the Storm's Anzac night win over the New Zealand Warriors.
He revealed that such were his concerns that Asofa-Solomona would leave, he called V'landys and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo over the weekend.
"I think the best thing to do, which is exactly why I called Peter and Andrew over the course of the weekend, is as opposed to trying to raid the coffers of rugby union and tap into some of their stars, let's try and protect our own stars," Tripp told ABC Sport.
"I would much prefer a war chest to safeguard what we've already got in our game.
"Our game is thriving. I think it's fair to say that rugby union isn't.
"And our game will continue to thrive providing we can keep the stars we've got in it."
His plea to V'landys came after the NRL chair pledged to offer salary cap support to clubs that wished to raid rugby union clubs.
This followed confirmation by Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan that his code had a list of rugby league targets, which included stars such as Panthers captain Nathan Cleary and Broncos forward Payne Haas.
Last month Rugby Australia pulled off a major coup by signing 19-year-old Roosters prodigy Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'i on a deal that will see him switch codes at the end of the 2024 NRL season.
As well as asking NRL headquarters to abandon their plans to raid rugby union, Tripp was critical of Rugby Australia's recruitment strategy.
"If they want to continue to try to put square pegs in round holes, which is kind of what it feels like … there are certain players that fit the bill in rugby union but not all, and I think the way they're going about it at the moment has got a few people scratching their heads," he said.
