‘They’ve listened’: Wallaroos hail sweetened investment in women’s rugby

Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh said the relationship between his organisation and the Wallaroos was “a strong one” as he helped to announce the side’s new sponsorship deal that runs until Australia’s home World Cup in 2029.

Monday’s announcement was in stark contrast to last August when Wallaroos players collectively called out RA for a lack of investment and promotion for women’s rugby in an open letter posted on social media.

Specific criticisms of RA included their financial management, including a reference to the $5 million deal for Sydney Roosters’ Joseph Suaalii, and the lack of a full-time coach for the Wallaroos.

At Allianz Stadium on Monday, joined by the Wallaroos’ first full-time coach Jo Yapp, who started in February, and star player Piper Duck as the sponsorship deal with Cadbury was announced, Waugh acknowledged that progress was being made in women’s rugby and lessons had been learned from last August.

“I think a really important lesson was communication and we’ve got to communicate with our athletes,” Waugh said. “We had the journey mapped out [for women’s rugby], we certainly had a strategy for investing more into female athletes.

“Certainly, the communication wasn’t there and that feeling of investment from the players and, as we know, it’s a player’s game. We need to ensure that communication is a lot better than what it was.”

Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh (left) with the new Wallaroos head coach Jo Yapp in February.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Previously, RA had been confident of having professional Wallaroos players by 2025 to coincide with the World Cup in England, but Waugh said that the ambition now would be to hopefully move towards professionalism ahead of the home 2029 World Cup.

“I think we need to aspire to that [professionalism by 2029], I think that as I said, to perform in 2029, you’ve got to be investing now,” Waugh said. “The more we can invest into the women’s game particularly with that growth within the community part of the game for female participants ... ideally we can accelerate to full-time Wallaroos as quick as we can.”

Duck, who was one of the players who posted the open letter on social media last August, said that RA have “listened” to the players.

The breakaway is excited about the future with increased investment in the women’s game ahead of the Wallaroos’ first Test of 2024 against Canada in Sydney on May 11 as part of the Pacific Four Series which includes the US and New Zealand.

Wallaroos star Piper Duck said RA have “listened” to the players with their increased investment in the women’s game.Credit: Getty

“[We’re] definitely feeling that they’ve listened. It’s already shown that there’s been such an increased investment into the Wallaroos,” Duck said.

“It’s also now time for us to really back up what we’re putting down and I’m really, really excited with the group that we have coming through and we’re absolutely stoked to show Rugby Australia and the world what we can achieve in this next coming tournament.”

Watch all the action from the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season, with every match ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport.

Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.