KIERSTEN DUKE: Cronulla Sharks physiotherapist volunteer job ad another setback for women’s sport

Time and time again the sporting world has me raising my hands in despair.

And not just by what goes on onJU the field.

This week outrage has been sparked among the NRLW community after a job advertisement for an assistant physiotherapist role at the Cronulla Sharks went online.

Great, an opportunity for a young, upcoming health professional, you might think. Wrong.

The job, although described as three to four days per week plus game days, was offered on a volunteer basis.

I thought this request was a little too cheeky to be true and figured there must be some significant perks to justify asking a person to work for free.

But sadly, after reading the online job description which included 11 bullet points of key responsibilities expected of you, it started to really sink in that the club thought this was a realistic and appropriate request to publicly make.

My heart sank. An overwhelming number of thoughts rushed through my head. The cost of living, the importance of health professionals and how this feels like a step backwards in the progression of women’s sport made in recent years.

The club has since amended the listing to a “contract/temp” role following a backlash from physiotherapists and told The Nightly the job always involved some remuneration but was poorly advertised.

That’s great to hear but first, still who on earth has the privilege in 2025 to be able to essentially work for free while keeping a roof over their head and putting food on the table?

I mean, I work full time and still find myself needing to make coffees at home instead of buying them from a cafe to save those extra dollars.

I honestly can’t think of anyone in my close circle of friends who hasn’t been forced to cut back on life’s little luxuries over the past few years and they all earn decent wages. Now how could a big sporting club expect an employee to survive without a defined wage.

Unless they want to employ the son or daughter of a millionaire or someone who’s won the lottery, I just don’t see how this is a realistic request.

Second, the disrespect and lack of value this shows to health professionals is sickening.

The Sharks wouldn’t be able to function without the backbone of the rehabilitation and conditioning team.

It blows my mind that such a significant role within a club isn’t valued enough to even offer minimum wage.

You wouldn’t expect your fullback to play for free, so why on earth are you expecting a key figure behind the scenes to perform for free?

Ryan Papenhuyzen is basically held together with tape at this point for goodness sake! He wouldn’t be able to play if it wasn’t for the health team behind the scenes.

Finally, what a bloody kick in the teeth this is to the progress made during the last few years for women’s sport. The continued reliance on unpaid or underpaid roles behind the scenes of high-performing clubs just simply needs a complete overhaul.

Clubs are constantly asking dietitians, coaches and doctors as well as physiotherapists to work for 12 months to ensure the wellbeing of female athletes while only being paid for five months, if at all.

Now I know there are people who are happy to do it for the greater good of the game or youngsters willing to work hours for free in hopes for a job at the end, but quite frankly this isn’t a fair expectation, nor is it sustainable.

We have a collective responsibility to push for the change we want to see in women’s sport because right now, allowing things like this to be swept under the rug is doing nothing but holding the sport back.