The wait for the NRL's new collective bargaining agreement will extend into the new year, but clubs will start 2023 with greater financial certainty after the game rubberstamped improved salary cap figures.
League Central confirmed on Friday that clubs will be able to spend up to $12.1 million on players in the 2023 season - a record figure and an increase from the 2022 figure of $9.6 million.
The minimum salary for a top 30-squad registered player will rise to $120,000.
NRLW sides have been given a beefed-up salary cap of $884,000 for next year.
The improved figures only apply for the upcoming season, with the NRL and the Rugby League Players Association still in talks over the CBA.
And fans now expecting their clubs to hit the transfer market with their newly found riches will be disappointed.
Many players who have signed contracts over the past 12 months had ratchet clauses inserted in their deals, meaning that their salaries will rise proportionately with the salary cap.
The move was made in a bid to provide clubs with certainty given the current impasse in CBA negotiations.
Clubs had become frustrated over the fact they had no clear idea on the scale of budget they were operating on, with many pausing recruitment and retention negotiations over the last few months.
Clubs had, until Friday, been operating on the basis of the 2022 salary cap after the previous CBA agreement lapsed at the start of the new NRL contractual year on November 1.
