KIERSTEN DUKE: Rugby league pay differential makes me ill

The future is looking bright for the NRLW and so it should be. Women’s professional sport is on the up, with viewership numbers increasing drastically each year and the answers to a potential pay rise for players has been on NRL CEO Andrew Abdo’s lips.

The annual average wage for an NRLW player ranges between $34,000 and $42,500. The thought of our professional athletes having to live on that wage in this climate makes me feel physically unwell.

Especially if you compare it to the wage of the average NRL player which was roughly $370,000 in 2023. Just let that sink in. Athletes putting their bodies on the line and making the same sacrifices yet the females earn a disgusting amount less.

Just to stay afloat in this economy, female rugby league players are pushed to work full-time roles outside of the season. Lauren Brown has represented her country on multiple occasions, playing Aussie Sevens and for the Jillaroos, as well as some of the strongest league clubs such as the Broncos and, currently, the Titans. Yet someone of this talent still works as a firefighter outside of playing professional sport to make ends meet.

Sadly, she isn’t the only one. Newcastle Knights player Yasmin Clydsdale is a teacher at Scone Grammar School and also runs a farm with her partner outside of her league commitments. I can’t imagine the likes of Cameron Munster or Nathan Cleary in a classroom, can you?

Last years NRLW season smashed the AFLW in terms of ratings. An average of 2.2 million watched the women’s Origin this year. That’s some serious broadcast dollars.

Inevitably this will be reflected in the women’s average salary when the games next big leap rolls around in 2028. Better late than never, I suppose.

Being full-time athletes is key. In an ideal world we would have more women’s teams. But with that not being the case perhaps the answer is double rounds, or to make it more sustainable, one-and-a-half rounds. The season could start earlier, they’d play Origin and then continue playing. It would mirror the men’s game but the key would be to expand slowly. We saw the blowout that occurred in the AFLW and need to learn from their mistakes by continuing to build a fan base around current teams and players before introducing new ones.

How do we do this? Well we know the power of social media and TV. Let’s continue to lean into that and use other sports as well as the means rugby league to lift the women’s side. We’ve seen brand collaborations and even cross promotions in other sports but perhaps next time Fletch and Hindy sit down with the Roosters on the Matty Johns show they can include a couple of female faces. Just an idea.

As viewers, we speak volumes. So next time a women’s league game is on attend it, or if you can’t make it then tune in. Heck have a bet on it, responsibly of course. Go and follow your favourite players on social media and get around them.

Our athletes deserve it.