Georgie Friedrichs on the attack for Australia against Fijiana in May.Credit:Getty
Wallaroos star Georgie Friedrichs commented on the Rugby Australia post:“Rugby Australia .... @wallabies WAGs getting more funding than the Wallaroos team.”
Other stars also made their feelings clear,with senior forward Sera Naiqama adding:“Reason it ruffles our feathers is because the treatment isn’t the same. This post is purely salt in the wound for Wallaroos. 32 of us selected for World Cup last year but this wasn’t offered to our partners? Before you attack,let’s not forget in June the lads flew business class to South Africa yet we,their female equivalent,endured a 14-hour flight in economy to Canada less than 12 hours after our test against the Black Ferns. You deleted the post ... but we kept the receipt.”
Sera Naiqama’s post on Instagram stories.Credit:Instagram/SeraNaiqama
Friedrichs also posted on Instagram:“Eddie has more than six coaches in his program - the Wallaroos coach isn’t even full-time. The Matildas have shown the world’s hunger for elite female sport. The man in charge of Australian Rugby needs to step up and make some changes,before history remembers him as a villain,not as a saviour. Do better Rugby Australia.”
The funding of women’s 15-a-side rugby in Australia is significantly lower than many leading nations,including England and New Zealand,where top female players are contracted on a full-time basis. The Wallaroos managed to make the quarter-finals of the Women’s Rugby World Cup last year before going down to England;a performance thatprompted coaches and players to plead for more funding.
Rugby Australia announced in February it would begin contracting Wallaroos stars on a part-time basis,withcontracts for 35 elite players on three tiers. The $2 million funding upgrade was announced with great fanfare at Kirribilli House,with the Prime Minister in attendance,and Rugby Australia have claimed they are pushing to have Wallaroos contracted full-time before the 2025 Rugby World Cup.
But players are still angry at getting lip service when it comes to discrepancies with male players in number of areas,including funding for coaching staff and equal travel arrangements. Wallaroos coach Jay Tregonning juggles his duties while also working as a teacher.
The Wallaroos have qualified as one of the world’s top teams for the new WXV1 competition in October,playing against Canada,England,New Zealand,France and Wales.
Referencing the Matildas’ inspiring run in the FIFA World Cup,star Wallaroos five-eighth Arabella McKenzie posted:“At a time women’s sport is shining in Australia,the reality isn’t the same for the Wallaroos#yourmove”″
The Wallaroos,pictured with the Wallabies last year,are calling for equal treatment.Credit:Getty
Australia will host the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2029 and Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waughconceded last week that the governing body must increase its investment in women’s rugby if the Wallaroos are to be given the chance to emulate the Matildas.
“We have made some good progress in that space since the World Cup last year in New Zealand. But we know we are nowhere near where we need to be,to set ourselves up for 2029,and for 2025 as well in the UK,” he told this masthead.
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“It is about playing more games in more quality competitions. We have the talent and the quality athletes,and there has been interest from a lot of our sevens girls to go across to the 15s as well.
“There’s no doubt it will require more investment,and investment in terms of the athletes themselves,but also how we do create more competition and tours so we are playing good quality Test matches. We need to emphasise that and you can’t do it without investing.”
Watch all the action fromRugby World Cup 2023 on the Home of Rugby,Stan Sport. Every match ad-free,live and on demand in 4K UHD from September 9.
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