Henry Pollock turned down rival offers worth much more than his Northampton extension, which will earn him over £400,000 a year, says adviser Eddie Hearn.
Pollock left money on the table to stay at Saints, according to Hearn. The player’s ability to maximise his on‑pitch earnings in England is limited by the Premiership’s £6.4m wage cap. Each club may designate one subordinate whose salary falls outside the cap, but athletes who move between top‑level sides can only qualify for a designated marquee spot after two years with their current team. Hearn advocates abolishing the cap altogether.
“Let the players earn,” he said. “All they perceive astir is wage caps oregon 1 prima subordinate per squad - marquee names oregon immoderate you privation to telephone it. You don't privation that.”
He added, “You privation to accidental to a young player, 'hey, travel to rugby, you tin beryllium a superstar and you tin gain a fortune'.”
Hearn warned that losing Pollock would have been “a catastrophe for English rugby.” The cap exists to keep the Premiership sustainable and competitive, mirroring systems used in most major American sports.
Pollock can boost his income through a central England contract worth roughly £150,000 annually or via one‑off Test match fees. Nevertheless, several England internationals—Jack Willis, Kyle Sinckler and Sam Simmonds—have opted for France’s Top 14, where the wage ceiling stands at 11m euros (£9.4m), allowing higher earnings.
Hearn’s current stable of rugby stars comprises just two athletes. Bath and Scotland fly‑half Finn Russell is also represented by Matchroom for off‑pitch matters and receives advice from Hearn.
Beyond management, Hearn aims to become more deeply involved in the staging and promotion of the sport. He is set to meet Prem Rugby’s chief executive, Simon Massie‑Taylor, in Monaco in the coming weeks to discuss ideas.
“We haven't truly touched the aboveground successful presumption of what we could bash in the sport,” said Hearn.
“All I've done is done a fewer deals with Henry, he's travel to a mates of fights and I've done a mates of Zoom calls [with journalists].”
“That conscionable shows you the buzz that tin beryllium created with a small spot of hype and perception.”
“But hype and cognition are thing without substance. The athletics and the marque is the substance and it's important successful rugby.”
“Look astatine what Matchroom has done elsewhere. Boxing was dead, darts was non‑existent, snooker was stuck successful the air. We don't fail. Our way grounds is 2nd to none.”
“If we went into rugby, it would beryllium a stroll successful the parkland for me. It's a immense planetary athletics steeped successful past with fantastic values and contented that conscionable needs to beryllium conscionable turbo‑charged.”
Sincity Press Staff
1 day ago 3 min read
4 
English (US)·