Cronulla Sharks walk back request for volunteer to fill NRLW assistant physiotherapist job

The Sharks have been forced to apologise and update an advertisement which called into question the level of care and professionalism given to NRLW athletes and their programs.

Cronulla have been forced to apologise and adjust a job advertisement for a volunteer NRLW assistant physiotherapist after the Australian Physiotherapy Association received a flood of complaints.

On the eve of the biggest game of the women’s rugby league season with State of Origin to kick off in Brisbane on Thursday night, the Sharks have been rocked by online backlash which calls into question the level of care and professionalism given to NRLW athletes and their programs.

The Sharks job was first advertised as a volunteer position despite requiring an allied health degree as an essential requirement, as well as an extended list of responsibilities including attendance at three to four training sessions per week, as well as game day.

It has since been amended to a contract/temp role with remuneration.

Sharks CEO Dino Mezzatesta said an issue with the website Sportspeople meant the role was posted in the wrong category in error, and the job was always a paid position.

NRLW players & the therapists deserve way better than this pic.twitter.com/8U2y5eFDNa

— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) April 29, 2025

APA hopefully acting on this.

To be clear this is a role for a fully qualified physio (the ad states a physio degree is required), not an assistant/student like many are saying in the comments.

It devalues our profession & it’s good to see so many calling it out. pic.twitter.com/ZxoxZywsdz

— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) April 29, 2025

“We can put up our hand and apologise,” he said.

“How the site is designed, that’s where they traditionally get posted, and it comes across as a volunteer role but it’s never been a volunteer role, it’s always had attached to it an honorarium for that period of time.

“Our mistake was we didn’t make it clear enough that it’s not a freebie.

“I can understand why people are a little bit disappointed and are questioning it, and I sympathise with that, but we want to be clear, it’s an honorarium role.”

The update comes after the Australian Physiotherapy Association confirmed it had received several complaints from members over the advertised role which was originally posted earlier this week.

In a statement the APA said it was preparing a letter to send to the Sharks about the issue.

On social media, renowned physiotherapist Brien Seeney, otherwise known as NRL Physio, was among those calling it out.

Cronulla Sharks CEO Dino Mezzatesta. Mr Mezzatesta is disappointed that the state government has continually overlooked the stadium for funding and believes that without urgent upgrades the ground will become redundant. Picture: Richard Dobson

“It’s great that the APA and ASCA (Australian Strength and Conditioning Association) are on the front foot with this, because health professionals being paid below award rates devalues their expertise and the profession as a whole,” he told this masthead.

“It has been a long standing occurrence in pro sport for roles to be underpaid but propped up by the allure of working with top level athletes, but for every therapist this has worked out well for there are dozens who have not be fairly compensated in remuneration or experience.”

The NRL has also been contacted for comment, however, NRLW programs are routinely underfunded.

NRLW clubs are given funding from the NRL to cover the salary cap, replacement players, and relocation costs, as well as money towards running game day for home games and double headers.

But more needs to be done.

NRLW is not funded to the same level as an NRL program, and clubs are crying out or more funding to support their football departments which often include low pay roles.

But from an NRL perspective, they want clubs to have skin in the game as well by co-investing in the women’s programs, so they’re motivated to sell tickets and support their NRLW side as much as possible to achieve commercial success.

“Clearly what this demonstrates is that if we want to go professional with the women, we have to go full-time,” Mezzatesta said.

“It’s really difficult to manage a competition within the middle of a calendar year, which only gives you a minimal amount of months to service them correctly.

“The minute it goes full-time will address the funding issue, and then you can provide the appropriate support services to cater for a professional squad.

“Is the funding appropriate today? No. Does it need to improve? Yes.”