12 February 2020

Rugby Australia tells Super W players 'don't expect pay anytime soon'

A third season of Super W rugby kicks off in Australia this weekend, but the country’s head of rugby admitted paying the players remains a dream.

Rugby Australia CEO Raelene Castle has lauded the inaugural seasons as a smashing success, citing double-digit growth in female participation over the past two years, but said the league still needs to focus on growing the women’s game.  

Five women's teams will play one another across five weeks for a place in the final on March 28.  

Six games will be billed as double-headers, with Super Rugby clashes in Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane to be broadcast on FOX Sports Australia.  

Castle said: “The first thing we have to do is make sure we give them the highest level of coaching we can, enough support around athletic performance to be the best athletes they can be and allow them to balance the requirements of being professional athletes and still working.

“What will happen over time is that we will grow towards paying the players to play Super W.”

The country's women’s sevens side achieved pay parity in 2018 when Rugby Australia made them full-time athletes and raised their pay to a minimum $44,500, matching the men.  

This year the Wallaroos 15s team will also cash in on test matches and training.

But Castle warned against expecting a similar deal for the Super W in the near future.

In contrast, men’s Super Rugby teams have $5.5 million to spend on salaries this season.

“We are having Test match payments for the first time for our Wallaroos this year, so that’s an exciting step forward," added Castle.

“But we have to make sure that we crawl and then walk and then jog and then sprint.”  

She added players could also find it challenging to play full-time rugby and manage other commitments.

“You’ve got to balance the fact that you’ve got girls who are trying to work so that you’ve got to think about whether that balances with them being able to have careers and still be able to be professional athletes.

“Overlay the fact that the top girls have got Test matches to play on top of that and they’re trying to balance that workload.  

“So we have to think long and hard before we make that step. It’s working really well for us at the moment and we’ll take that into consideration.”

The new Super W season begins on Friday with defending champions NSW Waratahs away at Melbourne Rebels.

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