RLPA pledge funds to offset losses to women’s rugby league

The RLPA has committed to contributing between $50,000 and $100,000 in an effort to offset the losses women’s rugby league suffered as a result of the coronavirus epidemic.

Brisbane's Ali Brigginshaw celebrates victory at full time with St George's Kezie Apps after the Brisbane Broncos v St George 2019 NRL Women's Premiership Grand Final at ANZ Stadium, Sydney. Picture: Brett Costello

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The RLPA has pledged to contribute between $50,000 and $100,000 to the NRL’s marquee female players, to offset the losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

RLPA boss Clint Newton told The Courier-Mail on Tuesday that the Players’ Association has found the funds to help support 20 contracted Australian Jillaroos.

The NRL give out 20 marquee player contracts each year to the top female players, worth between $10,000 and $20,000.

Upon signing the contracts in December, each player received their first $5000 instalment, with a second instalment due in August.

But with the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc across all sporting codes, the women’s players were left in the dark about whether they would receive the rest of their money from the NRL this year or if they will make it onto the field.

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NRLW has taken great leaps forward in it’s two seasons. Picture by Brett Costello.

However, Newton said he had been in meetings all day on Tuesday to find one way to support the women during these uncertain times and the RLPA would provide some financial assistance.

“I’ve been in meetings most of the day and working through a lot of the finances and the good thing I’ve been able to work through is that we’ll be able to find $50,000 to $100,000 for the contracted Jillaroos players,” Newton told The Courier-Mail.

“My number one priority is to protect the game and protect everyone in it ... It’s been a challenging process to work through. But I’m really happy with today.

“We’re hoping we can partner with the NRL to top up whatever they can provide.

“We feel it’s necessary to make those payments to the women. We need to work through the distributions and varying amounts with the players.

“We’ve got a finite amount but my guarantee is we will be able to contribute $50,000 to $100,000.”

Newton said the money was not provided by the NRL nor was it coming from the $40 million rescue package from ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys.

He said the funds were from the RLPA’s own money they had secured.

The money will not be provided by the NRL. Photo by Matt King/Getty Images.

He said they would now work with the NRL to see if they could combine it with whatever funds the governing body had available for the women’s game.

“The NRL have been 100 per cent supportive in advancing the women’s game,” he said.

“This is just about what we’ve worked through with our numbers and given the support the NRL have provided the women over the past few years, they needed to be commended for that.”

There was concern for the women’s players given some have already lost their day jobs as well as their football income.

The Queensland and NSW state competitions have already been cancelled, as well as the National Championships tournament.

The future of the 2020 NRLW season, State of Origin and women’s Test matches are also hanging in the balance, with the women’s players facing the possibility of not playing at all this year and missing out on the income generated by those sporting fixtures.

Originally published as RLPA pledge funds to offset losses to women’s rugby league