Melbourne general manager of football Frank Ponissi believes the financial implications of a postponed NRL season are “the elephant in the room”.

The NRL on Sunday insisted games would continue until it was told otherwise by the government, despite strict new coronavirus measures which have prompted the AFL to put its competition on hold.

ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys says conversations had begun around whether NRL players would have to take pay cuts, as per the collective bargaining agreement (CBA), if significant revenue was lost.

Ponissi says the financial implications of a lengthy spell without NRL matches would be dramatic.

“It’s the elephant in the room. We’re all hearing about it but no one really wants to talk about it,” he told RSN on Monday.

“When you hear the AFL, with Gill McLachlan yesterday saying there will be pay cuts, there’s going to be cuts potentially.

“Those discussions are going to be had, there’s no doubts about it.

“At the moment, the overriding factor is the financial implications if we did stop playing for a significant amount of time.

“The implications would be quite dramatic.”

Storm five-eighth Cameron Munster admitted a pay cut wouldn’t be ideal but said there are many others in the community doing it tougher than NRL players.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of players on our team with young families, who have to play mortgages and all that,” Munster told Sunday Night with Matty Johns.

“It’s the same with the coaching staff. It’s not ideal.

“If we don’t play games with the CBA and the broadcasters, we don’t get paid.

“At the end of the day, if we take a pay cut, 10 or 20 per cent, it’s not ideal for players, but I’m sure there’s a lot of people hurting more than us at the minute.”