ACT Brumbies chief executive Michael Jones says the club will have to be innovative to beat rich overseas teams trying to poach their stars, flagging a potential contract system overhaul to help retain Australia's best players.
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Brumbies vice-captain Nic White last week joined a growing list of players who will move their careers abroad after the World Cup at the end of the year, committing to a lucrative deal with French club Montpellier.
The Brumbies face a huge challenge to hold on to several off-contract players, including Tevita Kuridrani, Scott Fardy, David Pocock, Sam Carter and Ben Alexander, as cashed-up clubs in Japan and France prepare to swoop.
But Jones believes changing the contract system from a 12-month deal to base it around the length of a season will free players up to supplement their earnings with overseas stints in the Super Rugby off-season.
"We need to be innovative, maybe we need to look at the way we're contracting players," Jones said.
"Rather than contract on calendar years so that we allow guys to play for the Brumbies and then they can head off to Japan in the off-season and then come back to us.
"Or a 10-game stint somewhere in Europe, deals done in mutual agreement [with overseas clubs] so they can top up on lucrative contracts overseas and then they can have stability here.
"I would applaud those measures. You've got to think outside the box a little bit, but the compromises of that system are far less than losing a player long-term to overseas."
Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham met with Jones for two hours on Friday to ramp up plans to build the squad into the future.
Kuridrani is hot property on the free agents' market given his breakout year with the Wallabies, while Pocock is also set to re-establish himself as one of the world's premier openside flankers.
White is understood to have committed to a deal to reunite with World Cup-winning coach Jake White at Montpellier on a multi-year deal.
He joins Adam Ashley-Cooper, James Horwill, Sekope Kepu and Scott Higginbotham in announcing their moves abroad.
Several others are set to follow suit, with Israel Folau, Kurtley Beale, Will Genia and Quade Cooper also off-contract at the end of the year.
Former Wallabies captain Ben Mowen moved to France last year while Matt Giteau is one of the world's highest paid players at Toulon.
The ARU has introduced a sabbatical option from 2016 for players who commit to contracts for three years or more.
But the ARU and club chief executives have met to discuss options to stem the flow of players leaving this year and counter the lure of big-money deals abroad.
"It's going to be hard to compete with the dollars and each individual player's circumstance is different," Jones said.
"The attraction and the romance of playing in France seems great, but you have to do it."
The Brumbies are negotiating new deals with several players to keep the core of their squad together.
Jones said those contracts could be flexible to allow sabbaticals included if the contract system is changed.
"We started this program a long time ago where the Brumbies are a family and we all benefit, this is the Wallabies factory and we want to keep that.
"We need guys to want to stay in Canberra and with the Brumbies and if we can make it financially worthwhile for them, I think that's a good thing. If we lock players in, we won't cruel their future chances if it changes."
