The Australian women’s rugby team has called on the National Federation to denounce the inequalities and the lack of investment from which it suffers compared to the men’s team, the Wallabies. In a coordinated action, almost all of the incumbent players posted the same statement on social media late Sunday, asking the governing body to address their concerns.
Their anger appears to have been sparked by the fact that wives and girlfriends of Wallabies players were flown to Sydney to ‘say goodbye’ to the men’s team last week as they departed for the Cup of the world in France. “You told us that any flight beyond economy class was too expensive. Then you flew the Wallabies business class for a shorter route than ours, they said. You keep saying we don’t have enough resources, and yet we’ve all seen the Wallabies send off to the World Cup.”
Eleven assistants who cringe
No expense was denied to Eddie Jones’ underperforming men’s squad ahead of the World Cup, with training camps and a trip to northern Australia ahead of their departure. The women’s team, the part-timer Wallaroos, also took offense to the fact that Jones had eleven assistants. They also criticized Rugby Australia’s decision to sign young wonderkid Joseph Suaali’i on a 5 million Australian dollar (US$3.2 million) deal this year.
“You told us that full-time contracts were in the works, that there wasn’t enough money to keep the men in the game, let alone us. Then you paid $5 million for an NRL player, they continue. You said our program would go professional and our coach would be full time. How many coaches did Eddie take to the World Cup? “.
The Fed announces that it wants to do more
“We have seen the impact that women’s sport has had on the Australian sporting landscape,” they added in the statement, referring to the wave of support for the australian women’s soccer team during the World Cup which has just ended. “The future of our games hangs in the balance. It’s up to you, Rugby Australia.”
Without directly addressing the issues discussed in the document, Rugby Australia admitted it needed to do more for equality among players. “Rugby Australia will continue to involve the Wallaroos team (…) in all plans and developments regarding investment in women’s rugby,” the federation said.
“We are taking steps towards a fully professional future for the Wallaroos and are investing more broadly in women’s rugby across national and local competitions – and we know we still have a long way to go.” In February, Rugby Australia announced it would begin signing part-time contracts with Wallaroos players as part of a first step towards a gradual increase in investment over the next five years.