Greece players and staff have revealed that they won't pocket a single cent from their Rugby League World Cup campaign.
The Greeks, who are making their first appearance at the tournament, face France in Doncaster on Tuesday morning (AEDT) before pool games against Samoa and tournament hosts England.
Most players in the Greek squad are part-time and have taken leave without pay to play.
But rather than collect their weekly stipend from tournament organisers, they have decided to put their tournament allowance back into Greek Rugby League Federation's coffers.
"All the players have decided to forego their money to help the federation," head coach Steve Georgallis told AAP.
"It's actually costing a lot of the guys to play but they understand what we are trying to achieve.
"Even the professional guys like Lachlan Ilias and Peter Mamouzelos (both South Sydney), you'd think they would get paid but they said 'no, we get what you're trying to build'."
The generosity of sponsors - including Sydney Roosters owner Nick Politis - has meant that the likes of Newtown Jets forward Billy Magoulias could travel to England and enjoy a pre-tournament camp in Greece.
"It was a group decision, that's the way we ran with it," Magoulias said.
"There's a lot of sacrifices - work, time away from family, money and all of that - but it's enjoyable and I wouldn't change it."
The idea is that the money saved will be reinvested into developing more players such as Stefanos Bastas, who is one of eight players in Georgallis' squad drawn from the domestic competition.
"For us it's not about earning money, it's about the experience and being together as a group," Bastas said.
"It's about playing for your family, your country. Everyone said we don't want (to earn) anything."
Bastas has gone on to have spells with semi-professional clubs in England after only discovering league as a 19-year-old.
His journey to a decent playing standard is in spite of the fact that the Greek game has been beset by an intense political wrangle that meant until August of this year rugby league was outlawed in Greece.
"Now it's legal, we can get into schools and not have the fear of not being able to do things," Georgallis, a former NRL interim head coach at Penrith and Canterbury, said.
"We are hoping that it'll go to another level after this."
