Former Australian Jillaroos captain Sam Bremner has called on the NRL to fight for the women’s game on the basis of equality amid doubts over the 2020 NRLW competition.
The St George Illawarra star said elite players had been left “extremely gutted” by a lack of communication from the NRL over the viability of the women’s competition should games return in 2020.
Although the NRL has denied seeking to scrap the women’s competition, as well as Tests and State of Origin for this year, Bremner said the playing group is under the impression it could all be canned.
A telephone hook up with the RLPA on Monday night was their major discussion on the issue, and Bremner said she has not heard from the NRL over any possible plans to salvage the women’s game if possible during the coronavirus crisis.
Currently, the NRL and the RLPA are in negotiations on how to proceed with the men’s season on a reduced cost structure, but the future of the women’s competition, which was due to be extended and start in August, remains unclear.
After winning the NRL Nines in February, the Dragons skipper gave a moving speech about how honoured she was to play for an organisation that valued equality.
“It’s so upsetting to me personally because I made a speech at the Nines this year about how inclusive our sport was, and that’s completely backfired on me,” she said.
“I genuinely believed, not only the start of this year and the year before that I was a part of a very inclusive sport … and now it feels like we’ve been let down and we take that personally.
“Every single thing we do is for the game, and now we’re getting nothing in return, and all we’re asking for is to play.”
While accepting that rugby league may not return at all in 2020, Bremner said the playing group wants to be presented alternative options to run the competition cheaper.
Broadcast rights for the women’s games are negotiated separately, which will be a factor in the NRL’s final decision on the viability of the competition.
However, the women’s stand alone State of Origin series has proved to be a ratings hit in the past two years.
So far, the NRL’s 20 elite female players have been paid $5,000 of their $10,000 contracts, and the RLPA is currently discussing with the NRL the remaining $100,000 owed.
And while saying it’s not about the money, Bremner was adamant that female rugby league players centre their lives around the season.
“I feel that they (the NRL) either don’t understand that, they haven’t taken the time to have a think about that or they just don’t care,” Bremner said.
“This is huge for us. We’ve worked so hard to get to this point and to think they think we’re just going to come back next year when they’re a bit more financially ready to have us, is just crazy.
“We’re all athletes, we all have families, we can’t afford to just hold on and not play rugby league for a year.
“We didn’t come this far to only come this far. We should mean more to the NRL than a group that they can just dismiss.”
A spokesperson from the NRL told AAP: “The NRLW remains an important consideration in ongoing discussions around the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. No decision has been made on the future of the NRLW, Women’s Origin or Test match fixtures.”