NRL reveals support package for NRLW players after 2021 competition postponed
The NRL has signed off on a ‘Covid relief payment’ for every NRLW player on top of their contracted salaries after the competition was postponed due to the pandemic.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The NRL will provide every female player a ‘Covid Relief Payment” on top of their contracted salaries after the governing body was forced to delay the 2021 season due to the pandemic.
Every contracted player, almost 140, will receive a standard payment of $3500 that will cover the seven-week period between when training was due to start until the time the decision was made to postpone the competition.
The payment effectively covers the period that would have been the players’ pre-season.
Watch every 2021 NRL Telstra Finals Series match before Grand Final. Live & Ad-Break Free on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-days free >
After a number of delays, the NRLW season was finally slated to start in NRL grand final week. But the escalation of Covid cases in NSW meant the 2021 season was abandoned and instead will be played next year.
This payment in addition to the NRLW club contracts with players, which will be honoured as part of the 2021 NRLW competition early next year.
Other financial support the NRL has pledged to provide include:
— Financial support to assist New Zealand-based players who are waiting for approval to return home and other players who had relocated from Queensland. There are eight players in Australia.
— NRLW centrally contracted players will be paid their full contract value in 2021, with up to 30 players to receive between $8000 and $12,000 each.
— The Marquee Player Program will continue to receive the $450,000 in allocated payments.
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said as well as the “support package”, the NRLW’s elite players would also receive representative payments even though the Rugby League World Cup has been pushed back to 2022.
“Remunerating our players is so important to us,” Abdo said.
“We’ve been working on a support package well before the postponement of the season was announced and today we are able to confirm the package. In 2021 we have invested more than $1.5 million in player payments despite limited football being played.
“We’re also ensuring our marquee representative players are paid regardless of the international program not proceeding this year and we will continue to provide financial assistance to players who have relocated and are waiting to return home, particularly those from New Zealand.”
The NRL’s decision to delay the start of the 2021 NRLW season was met with disappointment among the playing group.
High-profile players like premiership-winning Brisbane captain Ali Brigginshaw hit out at the competition being postponed last Thursday.
Other players questioned whether the NRL had explored every avenue, like relocation, to get the season up and running in 2021.
Abdo said the large number of Covid cases in NSW meant players could not train, meaning relocation would have required a three-month commitment, which would exclude a significant number of players given their other obligations like family and full-time work.
“I want to be very clear – the competition was postponed because a third of players and officials were not in a position to relocate,” Abdo said. “The integrity of the competition is so important to us. We want to have the very best players take the field for the season and we want every player to have the opportunity to play.
“Lopsided matches because some teams are not at full strength due to players and officials not being able to relocate would negatively impact the competition in the long term.
“We don’t believe it is fair to say to a large portion of the playing group that we are leaving you out of the competition because you have work or family commitments. That’s not the right thing to do.”
The 2021 NRLW season will now be played next year, along with a second Premiership at the end of year, an Origin match, the Rugby League World Cup plus State competitions.
NRLW STARS HIT OUT OVER POSTPONEMENT
— Jocelyn Airth and Nick Campton
NRLW stars have hit out at the NRL for its handling of the controversial postponement of this year’s elite women’s competition.
The NRL this week announced that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in NSW, it would delay the NRLW campaign until January as part of a bumper calendar year for the women’s game. The development immediately drew criticism from arguably the league’s biggest star in Ali Brigginshaw, who claimed the vast majority of players were willing to relocate to Queensland.
A second NRLW star, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, demanded player payments and working conditions improve if they are expected to take on additional commitments in 2022.
“To put it bluntly, it’s a load of c..p, the NRL coming out and saying that it’s a really good elite program now for the women’s game, they’re playing two NRLWs,” the player said.
“They’re just doing it to look good in the media. If they were really thinking about our wellbeing, they would make it one big competition and have us play each other twice or three times.
“If they’re expecting us to do all that, we need to be paid at least $100K ... if there’s a three-game series for State of Origin, there’s no way the girls are going to be able to play a club competition as well as NRLW and a World Cup. They need to take a good hard look at themselves and come back to reality because it’s just not feasible.”
Her comments came a day after Brigginshaw took aim at league central for the season’s postponement.
“They surveyed us, asked if we wanted to move to Queensland. I think 85 or 90 per cent of the girls were happy to move to Queensland and stop working to continue the game ... it was quickly shut down because it was too hard to do, with the government” Brigginshaw told SEN.
Since the survey was conducted in July, the families and girlfriends of NRL players have been successfully relocated to Queensland.
The season’s postponement also came in the same week the W-League unveiled an expansion, and the Super Netball negotiated a landmark pay deal with their athletes.
“The question we keep asking is: why? You’re not actually telling us. A refusal letter from the government, that’s not coming. We’re being made to believe you have tried every avenue, but have you?” Brigginshaw said.
However the NRL insist that, according to a survey conducted by the league in July, almost 30 per cent of players said they would not be willing to enter a bubble.
“Nearly all our NRLW athletes are not full time athletes,” NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said. “They have careers off the field that limit the ability to be able to relocate for a long period of time and that’s something we considered carefully.”
Abdo also took part in conference calls throughout the decision-making process where the playing group were invited to participate and ask questions.
‘Not practical’: Concerns over NRLW plan
By Matt Logue and Russell Gould
Gold Coast Titans NRLW coach Jamie Feeney believes the proposal to have two seasons in 2022 isn’t “practical” due to the lifestyle demands on the women outside of rugby league.
Feeney’s comments come as this year’s expanded women’s competition has been postponed to a yet-to-be-confirmed date because of NSW’s Covid crisis.
The competition had already been moved from its original starting date in line with round 23 of the men’s competition but was pushed back to a stand-alone competition beginning in October following the Sydney outbreak.
But now the six teams won’t play at all in 2021.
Instead, the Australian Rugby League Commission says 2022 will be a super year of competition with two premiership seasons, State of Origin and the women’s World Cup and state leagues “creating a full year of top-tier women’s rugby league”.
Feeney understands postponing the 2021 season due to Covid, but he’d like the league to have a conversation with the women around the realistic challenges of having two seasons in one year, especially with Origin and an end-of-season World Cup.
“I just don’t see it being practical for a lot of the girls playing two seasons in one year,” Feeney said.
“From a female perspective, they manage rugby league around their whole lives and they don’t manage their lives around rugby league like the men.
“Essentially, these girls are employees, parents and partners before they are rugby league players, and they have a lot of things to sort out before they even sign a contract, including relocation for a lot of girls.
“If we have two seasons next year, some women will have to move away from home for two periods of about three months, which is basically half a year.
“I’d just like the league to have a conversation about the structure next season so we can get the best women playing.”
Feeney believes having one extended NRLW season in 2022 would make more sense for all parties.
“This is also a World Cup year, so some of these girls will have to add six weeks to two months on top of what they are already committing to with six months of NRLW with those two seasons,” he said.
“Essentially, they’ll be committing eight months of their year to rugby league, so for me combining the seasons works out better.
“You could kick pre-season off like the boys do around Christmas and then kick off the season in February or early March and then having a competition at the start of the year.
“It could impact the state competitions but having a season finish around May before the Origin in June, a return to club football and then having a really good preparation time for the World Cup.”
The decision to delay the 2021 NRLW competition was made “to ensure six teams complete a safe and full season with minimal disruption to the lives of the playing group and support staff.”
A date for the postponed competition is yet to be confirmed.
It leaves several players in limbo, including New Zealand-based NRLW players, who are now stuck in Australia.
The Rugby League Players Associations general manager of the women’s game Lina Caccamo said the players were disappointed at a lack of communication over the postponement.
“No one can dispute the significance of the Covid-19 situation and players are acutely aware of the effects it has had in their communities and for the game,” she said.
“However, for everyone to find out 12 days before the official NRLW pre-season was due to commence that training was delayed and then seven days later that the competition was postponed to 2022 was a bitter pill to swallow.”
| STATEMENT 📰|
— RLPA (@RLPlayers) September 1, 2021
The #WPAG and #RLPA provide commentary following the Sydney Morning Herald article ‘Scary, disheartening’: The NRLW players stranded in Australia’https://t.co/6vGfcxdkVw
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said it was just “not possible” for the season to go ahead now with player bubbles not a workable scenario.
“The rescheduling provides us with an opportunity to create a full 12-month calendar for women’s rugby league in 2022 and importantly means our athletes will not have to relocate,’’ he said.
“Next year there will be two NRLW competitions, a World Cup, an Origin series and state competitions. That’s never happened before. This presents an opportunity to build the profile of the women’s game next year and we are looking forward to making the most of that opportunity.”
“We explored all avenues, but it is simply not possible. When the men’s competition was relocated to Queensland there were 77 cases in NSW on that day. There’s now consistently over 1000 cases a day and restrictions around border closures are much tighter than they were in the middle of the year,’’ he said.
“We also acknowledge that nearly all our NRLW athletes are not full-time athletes. They have careers off the field that limit the ability to be able to relocate for a long period of time, and that’s something we also considered carefully.
“This decision highlights the commission’s absolute commitment to ensuring the 2021 season is played.”
Originally published as NRL reveals support package for NRLW players after 2021 competition postponed
Rabbitohs’ week from hell worsens in Charity Shield defeat
The Rabbitohs are suddenly staring down the barrel of a tough start to the season, with a loss to the Dragons in the Charity Shield adding salt to the wounds of a catastrophic week for Wayne Bennett’s men.
SuperCoach trial scores: Cheapie halfback shines for Bunnies
The Rabbitohs were undone by the Dragons in their final pre-season trial, but that didn’t stop a couple of their cheapie stars catching the eye. See all the SuperCoach scores and analysis from week three of trials.