But typically, New Zealand Rugby player services manager Chris Lendrum, estimates that older, experienced players in New Zealand can earn double offshore. Someone with five years' experience in Super Rugby and a handful of All Blacks caps can earn around $250,000 a season playing here. If they headed offshore, they would most likely be earning a similar figure - but in pounds or euros. Japan, too, is an increasingly lucrative market for players with a bit of long service.
There have been a handful of cases in recent seasons which have fallen well outside the norm to demonstrate how in demand experienced New Zealand players are. Colin Slade, Tom Taylor and Charles Piutau all received offers that were significantly more than double that on offer in New Zealand.
New Zealand Rugby wanted to keep all three but they couldn't get near the offers that came out of Europe. Slade was reportedly offered $750,000 a season to join Pau, Taylor $600,000 to end up at Toulon and Piutau around $1 million a season to join Ulster.
These sorts of offers are not as uncommon as New Zealand Rugby would like and chief executive Steve Tew warns that the egos of French club owners, in particular, make it is likely that these sorts of numbers will be seen again for other senior players.
Negotiations are ongoing between NZR and the New Zealand Rugby Players' Association to finalise the latest collective agreement. Although both parties are sworn to secrecy over the detail, Lendrum has made clear that the key priority will be to better protect senior peripheral All Blacks from leaving.
The broadcast deal is believed to be worth around $350 million over five years - a 100 per cent lift on the agreement that expired in 2015. The players directly benefit from this increase, with about 37 per cent of that money paying their salaries.
In addition to earning higher basic rates of pay, it is thought that a pot of money will be put aside to incentivise older players to stay. For instance, it may be a massive bonus payment kicks in if they stay in New Zealand for a certain number of years.