While Mark Gasnier begins to contemplate the selection of croissants in the cafes of Paris, some of rugby league's biggest names are occupying their minds with baked goods of a different kind.

Pies, to be exact. Not how to eat them - how to slice them. Or to be more precise, how to make the whole recipe bigger in the first place.

The impending move of Dragons captain Gasnier to French rugby club Stade Francais had Kangaroos coach Ricky Stuart and Test skipper Darren Lockyer resorting to meat-filled metaphors as they joined the ranks grappling with the fall-out of one of league's most sensational defections.

Both agreed the finances that drive the Australian game (that's the pie) needed a tripling of its ingredients if foreign raids were to be thwarted at the castle wall. And both warned of the danger of the NRL's ego writing cheques its body couldn't cash.

As rugby league identities struggle to rationalise the decision of Australian centre Gasnier to turn his back on league in the prime of his career, it was the straight talking of Broncos five-eighth Lockyer that has thus far made the most sense.

Speaking at a function in Brisbane to mark 100 days until the start of the Rugby League World Cup, Lockyer said no player was bigger than the game and the NRL shouldn't compromise its product in trying to retain a handful of big-name stars.

He said it was the role of events such as this year's World Cup, in addition to the the marquee State of Origin series, to increase the filling in the financial Four and Twenty, therefore boosting the dividends available to the game's elite practitioners.

"We've got to create a larger pie. For us to compete against overseas, we've got to be offered more money. But we can't offer money that's not there. We can't cripple the game to hold onto a dozen players," Lockyer said.

"I wish Gaz (Gasnier) good luck. He's a big name in our game but we've got a competition which is a great product and I'd hate to see us starting to pay big money to players we can't afford and the game suffering.

"We can't bend the rules just for a dozen players in what could potentially cripple the great product we have. We've got the salary cap which gives us such a close competition.

"The majority of people come to watch games because their team's a chance of winning every weekend. Some people come to watch certain individuals. I think maintaining the product we have is important."

Stuart believes the key to player retention may lurk within the State of Origin concept, suggesting no combatants ever announce their intention to play overseas before an Origin series unfolds.

Still, the Sharks coach fears the plunder from cashed-up rugby or UK Super League clubs will simply continue unless the NRL begins to expand and improve its foothold in the sporting market.

"We can't contest that money that's being thrown around and it's only going to keep happening. What I'm scared about is it will happen to our younger players more and more," Stuart said.

"We've got to put strategies together to protect our own."

And then it was back to the pies.

"We'd all like a larger slice of the pie. It's about creating a bigger pie. My job as a coach, their job as players, our marketing people, our administration; it's all about creating a bigger pie so the players can have a larger slice.

"We've got to try and do everything we possibly can financially to keep our best in Australia playing in the NRL. That's why I think it's so important in pushing forward and looking outside the square and growing our profile."

Lockyer will have to stare temptation in the face at the end of next season. He will be 32 when his contract at Brisbane ends and a number of huge international offers cross his manager's desk.

"When you get towards the back end of your career, the offers start to come through. You look at those options. Not only is it the financial appeal but for some people it's a different experience. At the end of my career a different experience and a different challenge is something I might be looking for," he said.