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#Post#: 156815--------------------------------------------------
Pollock to demand £1m a year at Northampton - Hearn
DIR By: Rugbycat
Date: August 3, 2026, 12:09 pm
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Henry Pollock is set to demand a substantial increase on his
current Northampton contract to stay at Franklin's Gardens, with
agent Eddie Hearn suggesting annual earnings of £1m are the
going rate for the 21-year-old star.
"He's certainly a seven-figure player," said Hearn, who met with
Pollock on his yacht off Monaco last month, to the Daily
Telegraph., external
"The way rugby's going and what Pollock is doing, his value over
the next couple of years will skyrocket, and I think the value
of rugby will."
Pollock's current deal with Saints, signed in December 2024 and
set to expire in summer 2027, is thought to be worth £150,000 a
year.
Since agreeing those terms, the back row has made his England
debut, toured with the British and Irish Lions and was a key
part of the Saints side that reached the Champions Cup final
last year and won the Prem title in June.
His exuberant on-pitch persona, relishing confrontation and
celebrating tries with rehearsed routines, has attracted
attention and a legion of young fans.
Northampton's ability to match Pollock's wage demands may be
hampered by a league-wide £6.4m salary cap and their own
generation of young stars.
Each team can have one marquee player whose pay is exempt from
counting towards the cap. Fly-half Fin Smith is thought to
currently occupy that place on the Saints' payroll, while Tommy
Freeman, who has reportedly signed a lucrative new extension,,
external and scrum-half Alex Mitchell could also make claims to
it.
Northampton failed to reach agreement with club captain George
Furbank on a new deal last season, allowing the England
full-back to leave for Harlequins as they sought to make space
under the salary ceiling to improve the terms of young stars
like Pollock.
The latest salary cap report, external - which detailed payroll
from the 2024-25 season - showed Saints did not pay up to the
£6.4m limit, with salary spending higher at Bath, Leicester,
Sale, Harlequins and Saracens.
It also showed Pollock's reported earnings being below average
for both his position, with the average back row earning a mean
of £192,000, and Test experience, with players between 11 and 20
caps around £224,000.
While Bath fly-half Finn Russell, another of Hearn's clients, is
believed to be the league's highest earner on a deal worth about
£1m a year, few clubs have the resources or space in their
salary structure to accommodate such a highly paid figurehead.
Newcastle Red Bulls, recently taken over by the Austrian energy
drink giant, are one of the exceptions.
Bristol, who place a large emphasis on the marketability of
their players, external and have signed Louis Rees-Zammit, Ellie
Kildunne and Ilona Maher over the past couple of seasons, could
be another.
Hearn said that Pollock would not consider a move overseas,
given it would stall his international career under England's
current policy of only picking domestically based players, and
that the back row was keen to stay at Northampton in an ideal
world.
"Henry Pollock drives season ticket sales," added Hearn.
"Henry Pollock puts bums on the seats. Henry Pollock drives
viewership on TNT or wherever it's going to be. Henry Pollock
sells shirts, right? That's the difference. So you can actually
put an economic value over having Henry Pollock on the team, and
that has to be recognised, regardless of the want from Henry.
"He cannot stay at this club on the money that he's on."
Hearn added that Pollock was keen to play Sevens for Great
Britain at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
France's captain Antoine Dupont successfully switched to the
format for Paris 2024, helping his nation to their first gold of
the games and massively boosting his profile in the process.
Great Britain's full-time Sevens programme was cut last year,
with both the men's and women's sides dropping out of the
top-tier of international competition this summer.
While routes still exist for them to qualify for the Games,
their lack of exposure to elite competition is far from ideal
build-up.
#Post#: 156816--------------------------------------------------
Re: Pollock to demand £1m a year at Northampton - Hearn
DIR By: Yareet
Date: August 3, 2026, 1:00 pm
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“Northampton's ability to match Pollock's [£1mn] wage demands
may be hampered by a league-wide £6.4m salary cap”
That’s something of an understatement
#Post#: 156817--------------------------------------------------
Re: Pollock to demand £1m a year at Northampton - Hearn
DIR By: FrostAndFire
Date: August 3, 2026, 1:11 pm
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Interesting, though, that he is earning less than average for
his position and international experience. I can see why they're
looking for more. He'll be lucky to £1m, though, unless a club
comes up with a vacancy in the marquee player slot. Right now,
he's probably that valuable, but without the vacancy, he'll be
out of luck.
#Post#: 156818--------------------------------------------------
Re: Pollock to demand £1m a year at Northampton - Hearn
DIR By: TomBuckQuin
Date: August 3, 2026, 1:12 pm
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--- Quote from: Yareet link ---
>
> “Northampton's ability to match Pollock's [£1mn] wage demands
may be hampered by a league-wide £6.4m salary cap”
>
> That’s something of an understatement
>
--- End Quote ---
Doesn't that ignore the assumption that, if this came to pass,
Pollock would take up the marquee player spot that Fin Smith
supposedly holds at present? I'm not saying it wouldn't have
ramifications for the overall squad makeup if Smith's salary
suddenly counted towards the £6.4m, of course...
Does the salary cap now go up with inflation again, or is it
still being frozen?
Either way, you'd think Saints will have some tough decisions to
make in the next couple of seasons with the quality they have
and the demands their core group will be making.
#Post#: 156820--------------------------------------------------
Re: Pollock to demand £1m a year at Northampton - Hearn
DIR By: RodneyRegis
Date: August 3, 2026, 1:27 pm
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Not sure it would be that difficult a decision. Pollock is
fantastic, but he'll be away half the season.
I'd love to hear hearns reasoning as to why 'rugby's value will
skyrocket' over the short term.
#Post#: 156821--------------------------------------------------
Re: Pollock to demand £1m a year at Northampton - Hearn
DIR By: Rugbycat
Date: August 3, 2026, 3:18 pm
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--- Quote from: RodneyRegis link ---
>
> Not sure it would be that difficult a decision. Pollock is
fantastic, but he'll be away half the season.
>
> I'd love to hear hearns reasoning as to why 'rugby's value
will skyrocket' over the short term.
>
--- End Quote ---
He was at war for years with Frank Warren, until they reconciled
to stage a multi million pound boxing promotion, Warren owned
Bedford blues in the 1990’s, lost £2.5m and sold the club for a
£1, perhaps he told him it was a good investment.
#Post#: 156822--------------------------------------------------
Re: Pollock to demand £1m a year at Northampton - Hearn
DIR By: Rugbycat
Date: August 3, 2026, 3:40 pm
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--- Quote from: TomBuckQuin link ---
>
> Doesn't that ignore the assumption that, if this came to pass,
Pollock would take up the marquee player spot that Fin Smith
supposedly holds at present? I'm not saying it wouldn't have
ramifications for the overall squad makeup if Smith's salary
suddenly counted towards the £6.4m, of course...
>
> Does the salary cap now go up with inflation again, or is it
still being frozen?
>
> Either way, you'd think Saints will have some tough decisions
to make in the next couple of seasons with the quality they have
and the demands their core group will be making.
>
--- End Quote ---
The cap is not linked to inflation, it is decided on at
strategic board meetings, so can be lowered as it was during
Covid, since part of the RFU plan is to taper off it payments to
the prem clubs based on growth, supposedly Bath wanted the cap
removed entirely and Northampton wanted it kept at £5m.
I would guess that the RFU by persuading the Champ clubs to
accept the franchise league structure and want to reduce the
amount they pay clubs for player availability for England and
for club academies, so would not want the clubs to dramatically
raise the cap until that happens.
#Post#: 156823--------------------------------------------------
Re: Pollock to demand £1m a year at Northampton - Hearn
DIR By: Quinky
Date: August 3, 2026, 8:12 pm
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--- Quote from: FrostAndFire link ---
> Right now, he's probably that valuable, but without the
vacancy, he'll be out of luck.
>
--- End Quote ---
Maybe in a few years, if he achieves anything like e.g.
Dallaglio, Hill or Back. At present he's not even first choice
for England.
There's hyping, and then there's Eddie Hearn.
#Post#: 156826--------------------------------------------------
Re: Pollock to demand £1m a year at Northampton - Hearn
DIR By: Yareet
Date: August 4, 2026, 1:19 am
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--- Quote from: FrostAndFire link ---
>
> Interesting, though, that he is earning less than average for
his position and international experience.
>
--- End Quote ---
Seems the contract was signed in December 2024 so that makes
sense. At the time, he was an u20 player.
Now he’s earned an increase so should get more.
#Post#: 156827--------------------------------------------------
Re: Pollock to demand £1m a year at Northampton - Hearn
DIR By: deadlyfrom5yardsout
Date: August 4, 2026, 1:19 am
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Pure speculation. Now, if players were to be rewarded on top of
their salary for outstanding success then that would at least be
a two way street.
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