Rugby Australia and the Queensland Rugby Union have released Reds players Izack Rodda, Harry Hockings and Isaac Lucas.
This follows the players' decision to terminate their contracts after the QRU stood them down on Monday.
Wallabies' lock Rodda, fellow second rower Hockings and five-eighth Lucas were stood down after they declined to accept a reduction in pay and nominate for the Australian government's JobKeeper subsidy.
On Friday the players' agent Anthony Picone argued the Reds had no legal grounds to stand them down.
He said in a statement the players had arrived at the decision because of the "enormous uncertainty surrounding the financial state of rugby, including the lack of a broadcast deal, and ability for contracts to be honoured into the future".
"This is their livelihood. It is only reasonable that talented players want to secure stable employment during these times."
RA and the Rugby Union Players Association recently agreed on an interim pay deal, where the players took pay cuts of an average of 60 per cent.
RA interim CEO Rob Clarke said his organisation and the QRU had made the decision to release the three players from their contracts, effectively immediately.
"As everyone is aware the impacts of COVID-19 have been felt in every country, across every industry, and rugby is no exception," Clarke said in a statement.
"As a result, the game collectively took the difficult but necessary action to stand down over 70 per cent of the entire rugby workforce, which equates to over 150 workers that are now receiving the JobKeeper subsidy.
"At the same time, 189 professional Rugby players in Australia accepted reduced pay for an interim period to enable the game to navigate this unprecedented situation.
"The three Queensland players elected not to accept these terms."
QRU CEO David Hanham said now that a decision had been made his organisation's focus and attention was on the players, staff and rugby community who had committed to the Reds.
from WWOS http://wwos.nine.com.au/rugby/ra-and-qru-release-reds-rugby-trio/2335f828-0a0e-420f-8074-22795ac9f426
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