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Rugby Australia respond to WAGs send-off scandal after Wallaroos uproar
By AAP
Rugby Australia have admitted they have a “way to go” to improve conditions for the Wallaroos and have pledged to keep players involved in their plans.
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Australia’s 15-a-side women’s rugby team presented a united front on Sunday in taking to social media with a statement lashing the sport’s governing body.
They claimed there were inequities between the investment and resources in the women’s and men’s national programs and said their team had been lied to.
A spokesman for RA responded to the Wallaroos, saying the governing body was “taking steps” to invest in the women’s game, with Australia hosting the women’s World Cup in 2029.
“Rugby Australia will continue to involve the Wallaroos playing group, through RUPA (Rugby Union Players Association), in all planning and developments regarding investment in Women’s Rugby,” the RA statement said on Monday.
“We are taking steps towards a fully professional future for the Wallaroos and investing more broadly in women’s rugby across national and community competitions – and we know we have a way to go.
“In line with RA’s commitment to incorporate players on this journey, RA will continue to meet with the elected Super W representatives from each Super W team, the RUPA Women’s Player Director, and the Wallaroos leadership group to listen and work together, to support our female athletes and their coaching and support teams.”
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Among the complaints from the the Wallaroos, the players said RA told them there was no money for full-time playing contracts at the time they were recruiting league star Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii on a multi-million dollar deal.
The women said they were still waiting for their school teacher coach Jay Tregonning to be made full-time, while Wallabies coach Eddie Jones had six assistants at next month’s World Cup.
The women criticised travel arrangements, saying they recently flew economy to Canada for two matches while their male counterparts enjoyed business class on their long-haul flights.
The Wallaroos were also angered by the World Cup “send-off” for the men’s team, who flew out to France last week.
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The collective social media statement was believed to be prompted by a TikTok video that showed partners of the male players being flown to farewell them in Sydney.
Wallaroos star Georgie Friedrichs commented on the RA post: “Rugby Australia … @wallabies WAGs getting more funding than the Wallaroos team.”
The funding of women’s rugby in Australia is significantly lower than leading nations such as New Zealand and England, whose top players are fully professional.
The Wallaroos made the quarter-finals of the Women’s Rugby World Cup last year in New Zealand and have qualified as one of the world’s top six teams for the new WXV1 competition in October.
I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, Wallaroos are very poor and hard to watch and the proof is in the quality of their super rugby sides. For example, despite having regular competetion for number of years, the Fijiana Drua, made up of amateur players in worse situation, wins the oz SRW competition TWICE! This includes an undefeated inaugural season in 2022 and schooling the Wallaroos laden Waratahs. Even the Canadian national side is a wonderful team to watch. Their match against NZ was entertaining and high quality. So, before you demand an equal footing, you need to bring something to the table.
On the other hand, these poor ladies are the recipient of poor management of Rugby Australia by various boards. So much is squandered and the argument that Australia's population of near 26+m is not enough to compete with other sports is BS! We are 6 times the population of NZ, we play them more than any other country since 2021. You'd think by now, we'd know our opponent better than others, yet even in the AB's most unsuccessful 2022, we were the only team not to defeat them in TRC.
RA sacks Rennie and hires EJ with not enough time to compete in the RWC. We pay too much for league players but discard the raw talents and toilers of our game; Mack Hansen, Irae Simone, Tuipoltu etc. Why is RA paying for WAGs to stay in 5 star accommodation and travel when this should be paid for by their husbands? When I travel for work, my employee is not obligated to pay for my spouse's travel. Wallabies are employees of RA. They can afford to pay for their wives.
It is sad that the Wallaroos are treated as such but they also need to improve their results to have something to bargain with.
How many years were the Wallabies playing, flying coach, making sacrifices as amateurs before they got the recognition they deserved ?🤔
What's going on?! Generate the income! Then get a percentage of that. Don't expect to be subsidised based on politics and emotions. Australia men's game if far more popular and they're not doing well wtf do they expect?!
Rugby Australia going with the blah blah blah pro forma platitude response says it all really. Bloody embarrassing.