The dangerous reality of Rugby Australia’s attitude towards women

there was a female running RA - Raelene Castle. so there should go any complaints of it being an old boys club or misogynistic views against women

I think too many of you have missed the actual point that the very courageous author was trying to invite discussion around, being the patriarchal administration of the game and how that establishes the cultural norms that then spill over into the rest of society, not about how the sport is financed. If RA has so much money that they can afford to purchase players from rival football codes and from overseas, then why can they not with that same money, put it into developing the women's game and supporting local and national initiatives which make it easier and safer for girls and women to compete in the sport? And why are women so disregarded as competitors? Some of the proudest moments in Australian sporting history have been delivered by women and this is in spite of the fact that they do not stand to reap the same public accolades and financial rewards as any man who achieves even modest success in the same arena. The only times that women's sport genuinely gets widespread public attention is when they are competing at the Commonwealth or Olympic Games. So, what are the professional bodies that stand at the top of national and international sport doing to address this deficit of coverage for women in their professional leagues? The level of disrespect that female athletes have to contend with apparently at every level is absolutely deplorable and I cannot understand how any of the people involved in sports administrations at every level aren't ashamed of themselves for this being the accepted norm. Despite the outward appearances of adopting the general social trend towards gender equality (ridiculous that this even needs to be made a discreet idea), the men in charge of these organisations clearly don't believe in it and their decisions and actions (or lack thereof) speak volumes as to the deficiencies of their own individual character. Returning to the gender gap, it isn't just in terms of contract salaries. Due to the lack of coverage for women's sports generally and not being able to compete for prime time coverage of professional games, how is women's sport ever supposed to garner the attention of advertisers, the main source of revenue for sports and athletes, if they are never given the opportunity to contend in the first place? Also, on average, a female athlete can expect to have a professional career at least ten years shorter than a male athlete, even allowing for injuries and other interruptions. With these two crucial factors in mind, how are women ever supposed to be able to become professional athletes full-time? If women could be paid at a level commensurate with their male counterparts and expect a similar career length, they could then become indistinguishable in terms of performance from male athletes and therefore generate the "attractive product" that you troglodytes claim is what you desire from watching sport. If I can really point out one very clear difference between men's and women's sports, it is that women participate in sports because they love the sport that they are competing in regardless of any financial reward arising from it; men participate in the sport they do both because they enjoy it and also because they can pursue a career in it, which at some point becomes the overriding factor for participating rather than the love of the sport. This very fundamental difference is why women's sports can never be played the same way as men's sports. And I would like to acknowledge the reply that raised the point that the sports' administrators should be trying to create a women's brand for rugby that is distinct from the men's brand, rather than simply trying to emulate the men's game, which it can never be. The entire world of sport gained an insight into this when the women's world no.1 golfer at the time, Katie Sorenson, demanded she be allowed to compete on the men's PGA golf tour, siting that it was discriminatory for the Tour to prevent her from doing so since nothing existed in the rules to prevent her from competing. They eventually allowed her to compete and she didn't even finish in the top 20 of the tour. I raise this comparison simply because I want to highlight that whilst there is clearly a dramatic difference in the skill level of male and female golfers at the highest professional level, and this can be reasonably extrapolated for all professional sports, that does not mean that women's sport is less valuable or less watchable. People shouldn't be comparing apples to oranges by comparing men's and women's sports; it doesn't make sense. And the women's game shouldn't be trying to compete with the men's game as a brand; they should be supporting each other as the same code but distinct brands. And this is really where Rugby Australia has been letting female athletes down the most. No one is demanding that advertising money generated by the men's game and flowing to male athletes through endorsements should be arbitrarily redistributed to the women's game and female athletes. But when RA has just signed a brand new rights deal that has netted them a huge war chest to invest into the game and they are known publicly to be interested in acquiring marquee players from rival codes and abroad for the men's game for considerable salaries, all the while apparently peddling the line to the women's game that money is tight, it seems incredibly disingenuous and cynical. And if it can bring one experienced athlete and personality in women's rugby to tears just by turning on the sports news, you know that something must be seriously wrong with Australian rugby. The culture starts at the top and it's time to see some genuine leadership from RA that justifies why we as supporters watch the game and contribute to the value of the sport.

Too right mate. C’Mon Annika, if you don’t wanna be groped, wear a longer skirts :laughing:

Hi Quirky -I think the issue here is that you're looking at the effort your son and daughters are putting into their sport as equivalent (which is it is) and then equating that to that of a job or workplace. And using this metric of fairness, you'd be right. But professional sport sources it's money from the value attributed to it in the entertainment marketplace. Women get paid less (or nothing at all in this instance) as there aren't enough people willing to pay to watch the entertainment product they are offering. It's the same for people who are in music bands or artists who paint - if people arent entertained by what you do, then they shouldn't be forced to pay for it. Moving forward, the way to improve this scenario is: 1) DON'T play the game like the men play it (as alluded to in Geoff's article this morning). Quite literally, play it like a girl! Make the product offering different from what the men are offering. Be different. 2) Support any measure that improves the money making activities of Rugby Australia and the state unions as that's where the money is coming from. The money that will come to support women's professional rugby will - in the short to medium term - come from the men's game. (Incidentally dont try telling a Netball exec that the revenue they generate from their TV deals and ticket sales needs to be siphoned off to introduce a professional men's league! I did and it didn't end well) 3) Any money that is available from state or fed governments to support sport via Sport Aus or similar to be used solely for the development and support of the women's game. And finally - if there is anyone here bemoaning the unfairness of the current landscape and you haven't been to a Jack Scott Cup, Super W or Wallaroos match, then you have no buy in whatsoever. Part with your hard earned and encourage your friends and family to do the same.

exactamundo

And they get the slice Kent, mainly because if they weren't there, neither would the money be.

no doubt player associations play a big part in all of it - where a sports organisation makes bucketloads from TV rights, sponsorship etc, the players assoc say it is because of the athletes - and they want a slice of the pie

Fair point PeterC it's arguable the Wallabies are overpaid, but there's no escaping which teams generate the most cash for RA.

But I presume your name isn't really numpty is it? It's an opinion site, get it?

In my view you've summed up the situation correctly Bobby. We'd all like a Ferrari or Lamborghini in our garage, but sadly most can't afford them. Economic reality of the free market economy.

I understand that Morsie, but one thing we have to remember, they don't just pay players of games you (or I) choose to watch. Hey I never watch league, but understand that they pay those players too!

"If you get paid what you are worth" is the point about funding for Women's rugby then how does that not apply to the Wallabies and the discussions around their funding where cash is always positioned as "building for the future"? All the money going into facilities for the upcoming RWC? No problem, as we are building for the future. Need more money from PE even though the terms might be, IMO, onerous. No problem, as we are building for the future. Bring across some probably expensive NRL players, as there is no depth in some positions. No problem, as we are building for the future. Allocate some money to Women's rugby who are building for the future. Sorry "you get paid what you are worth."

More immediate funding from RA is important but equally so is grass roots development. NRL came knocking on my daughter's primary school door a few years back. They trained the kids AND the sports teacher. Within only 8 weeks they had a mixed team playing in a comp. NRL gave away free shirts which generated conversation with friends/teachers/parents. They got a photo and article in the local paper. They had a cake stall to raise money to buy kit. Whilst it was fantastic to witness it was also sad to see what Union was missing out on. I have no idea how much it cost but one NRL rep came for 2 afternoons and the ball was rolling. The key was training the school sports coach the basics. The RWC will bring money. Hopefully the RA will get it's act together.

Kent funny you mention Netball. Netball Australia go as far as to palm mens Netball to Indoor Netball Australia, an entirely different organisation with not even close to the same support or funding. There’s absolutely no logical reason for doing this other than Netball Australia being able to wipe their hands of funding the male game and not having to entertain professionalising it. Could you imagine the reaction if football codes purposely roadblocked and wiped their hands of responsibility to the degree Netball have. It’s probably for the best though as Netball Australia are finding out how hard it is to professionalise womens sport with decent size playing contracts

I have a limited amount of viewing time a week. If I'm going to watch rugby, which I do, I'm going to watch men's rugby. That is all. If I had the "spare time", to watch any other sport it would not be women's rugby. Yep, old fashioned. I'm not going to watch women's rugby in order to tick some D.I.E. boxes. If I'm going to watch anything it will be men's sport. Its better.

“Sports dollars come from men watching men play because deep down it reminds us of our childhood and it is a type of controlled violence that our cave man brain really appreciates. There is probably more to it than that (escapism, tribalism etc.) but you catch my drift.”- i would argue that more men watch sport because there is a fair chance they grew up playing the sport, left school and played for a club, started a family & their kids now play it so they continue to support it, and they continue to watch the higher level comps. Just as many women are passionate about mens NRL / AFL because they grew up watching it with their dad / family. The mens version the athletes will be bigger, stronger, faster more athletic – hence a better spectacle (not saying the women are not outstanding athletes too)

great point Kent.. my wife is passionate about the NRL.. couldn't care less about the NRLW

It kinda is though. I’ve watched every game of NRLW since it’s inception and attend Harvey Norman games (the division below) almost weekly and the odd AFLW/Aus cricket game. The men at these games outnumber the women. Every single time, without fail I have so many sporty female friends and none of them watch/attend or follow womens sport, my male friends do though While misogyny and finances are barriers in the female game, they both go a long way to being solved by women committing time and money to female sport

you don't hear any mens netball teams complaining that they don't get the same TV time, etc as the womens netball teams do you

RWC - wallabies won 2 from 4, NZ won 3 from 4, SAf 3 from 3, Eng 1 from 4, that's not a bad record compared to the other 3 countries where rugby is no doubt played in greater numbers with better funding. What is the feeder system to the Queensland Reds - 9 private schools?