Rugby Australia block Maddison and Teagan Levi’s $100,000 NRLW request
Rugby Australia are standing in the way of a plan for two of Australia’s biggest Rugby Sevens stars to maximise their earning potential.
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Rugby Australia is set to stand in the way of Australian Rugby Sevens stars Maddison and Teagan Levi playing in the NRLW next year, a move that could cost the sisters up to $100,000 each.
The sisters have been two of Australia’s best players with outside centre Maddison scoring 14 tries in the world champions’ unsuccessful Olympic campaign.
In just 21 Sevens tournaments, the 22-year-old Maddison has scored 152 tries.
The 21-year-old Teagan has played 18 tournaments but is more the facilitator, playing lock for the Australian team.
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But despite just eight events being played last year between December and June and four rounds locked in for this seasons starting November 30 in Dubai, Rugby Australia are set to stand in the way of the sisters from playing NRLW.
The superstars have been approached by the Wests Tigers and Gold Coast Titans to gauge their interest in a joining the NRLW for the 2025 season.
The 2024 regular season went for nine weeks, kicking off on Thursday July 25 and culminating in the grand final on Sunday October 6 as the curtain raiser for the NRL decider.
In 2025, with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and New Zealand Warriors joining the comp, the regular season will expand to 11 games.
Despite Aussie Sevens coach Tim Walsh and his staff signing off on the move, Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh has stood in the way.
If the sisters were named marquee players, they could earn $100,000 for the 13-week stint, which The Sydney Morning Herald reports is almost as much as the sisters earn in a year on their full-time rugby contracts.
Waugh and director of high-performance Peter Horne have reportedly also called for the sisters to make themselves available for the Australian women’s rugby team, the Wallaroos, for the World Cup in the UK next August and September.
However, the report added that the sister “have indicated they are reluctant to play 15-a-side rugby and would prefer to earn the extra money available in rugby league”.
Former dual international Mat Rogers, who is the manager for both sisters, said the conversations were ongoing as they try to maximise the duo’s earning potential.
“Our priority at Rogers Sports Management is Maddie and Teagan Levi,” Rogers said.
“We understand that rugby has afforded them an amazing opportunity, but these young women are phenomenal athletes in demand in three codes; AFL, rugby league and rugby union. They are currently contracted to rugby union.
“There’s no doubt we will honour that contract but we’re always exploring ways to maximise the earning capacity of our girls that best suits their future.
“There has been an appetite to explore it, but with the rugby women’s World Cup on the horizon, it doesn’t look likely they will be afforded the opportunity to play.”
A potential move to the NRL would be a third elite sporting code for the multi-talented sisters as Maddison played eight games, booting three goals for the Gold Coast Suns in 2021. Her performance saw he equal top of the goalkicking ladder for the season alongside five other teammates.
Despite signing a two-year extension with the Suns, Levi defected to Rugby Sevens, making her Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2021.
Teagan was also drafted by the Suns in 2021, but opted to follow her sister to Rugby Sevens with the pair winning gold together at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
They were also part of the Australian team that lost the bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics 14-12 in heartbreaking circumstances to the United States after a length of the field try in the final seconds of the match.
Originally published as Rugby Australia block Maddison and Teagan Levi’s $100,000 NRLW request
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