Women to be paid as much as men at upcoming Rugby League World Cup tournament in Engl

Jasper Bruce
AAP
October 12, 2022 7:33AM


The Australian women’s rugby league team will be paid at the same rate as the men’s side at the upcoming Rugby League World Cup, with each of the 24 squad members taking home a minimum of $30,000.

As recently as last week, the Jillaroos were unsure how much they would be paid for the tournament despite readying to leave for England on October 23.

Weeks of negotiations between the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) and Rugby League Players Association (RLPA) ended with a large pay increase agreed from the $3000 earned by each Jillaroos player at the most recent World Cup in 2017.

The RLPA told AAP ensuring equal pay for equal work was a focus of the negotiations.

While the men’s side will receive $40,000 each, that figure is only higher because the Kangaroos are away from home longer and are playing in a tournament with one more finals match for each team that qualifies.

The pay rise is a boon for the women’s side given players generally work second jobs to support their rugby league career, with some taking leave without pay to take part in the tournament.

The RLPA will now turn its attention to brokering a new collective bargaining agreement with the ARLC.

The current accord expires on November 1 and will impact the salary cap, meaning some high-profile players who come off contract next year have been reluctant to enter talks.

“It’s pretty disappointing,” South Sydney fullback Latrell Mitchell said last week.

“(NRL CEO Andrew) Abdo came out and said he supports the playing groups but that’s all words.

“If you don’t put actions to words, it’s no good to us.”

https://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/ru...team-c-8521220

Equal pay for Equal work

Sounds eminently reasonable which means it'll never happen in Rugby Union.

Equal work? My nephew played 80 minutes of full contact rugby last weekend...does he get paid too?

If not, why not?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AndyS

Equal work? My nephew played 80 minutes of full contact rugby last weekend...does he get paid too?

If not, why not?

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Is his training load, time commitment, dietary regime, physical testing, need to take unpaid leave from work etc, equal? If it is, you may have a point.

Well, if it is just that they are being paid for, is there really any need for two teams? If it is only that constituting equal work, there wouldn't really be any need for more than one team representing Australia surely. In fact, probably best would be to make it the U18s, take advantage of junior pay scales given RA's financial condition. Probably no-one better placed to do nothing but train and exercise than school leavers.

Do they draw the same amount of spectators and TV revenue? That's the real determinant of who gets paid what.

Some guy who's not really good enough to break into any part of the international professional MMA circuit should by no means be getting paid as much as Ronda Rousey was in UFC. He could probably massacre her in a bout- but Ronda was a top MMA draw, people would spend millions buying tickets and PPVs to see her, nobody's paying to see him. Therefore no, there's no equal pay there, Ronda gets and deserves more as she draws more. Simple basic economics that should apply here also, when people bleat about equal pay.