Simple Dally M fix... and why State of Origin change is a must: NRLW issues we need to talk about

Rugby League is at a pivotal point in its history with an expanding competition, record broadcast rights deal and now the game’s first Executive Chairman in Peter V’Landys.

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There’s both the power and potential to make to lift the game and, in particular, the women’s game to new heights.

So to do that, here is a checklist of issues V’landys should address in the women’s game.

Just like the NRL, the NRLW needs an expansion plan. But rather than expansion of teams, an extended competition should come first. A 12 team competition conserves a high quality talent pool, yet the 11 week home and away season simply isn’t long enough. The women previously played State Competitions earlier in the season as well as NRLW which meant they played up to 25 games a year. Now that the state competitions are played at the same time as the NRLW as their reserve grade, it means the women are playing fewer games than they have previously. Extending the season an extra 5-6 weeks in a 16-17 week home and away season means the girls play together longer, building key combinations and skills, therefore increasing the quality of the game and product.

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2. Start the process of full professionalism

The biggest question of the women’s game has long been, when will they go professional? Right now the public expectation is a fully professional looking product yet the brutal reality is that female players are juggling full-time work and, for many, family commitments as well. It’s not an even playing field and without reform the game risks being stuck in a semi-professional cycle. To help the women’s game meet its potential and ever increasing expectations, the game needs to go professional.

This may not, however, mean professional across the board.

The process could see just a handful of players from each team, yet the same number from each club, go fully professional. This would also solve another issue where there is not a big enough difference in pay from the top to the middle players which would encourage more movement between clubs. It means the top clubs are able to hold onto their elite players because the financial incentive isn’t great enough to change. This would help even out the talent across all teams and should be a key consideration when negotiating the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

3. Rename Dally M after a female legend and have trophies of female players rather than men

Rugby League’s night of nights is named after a legend of the game, but Dally M didn’t have anything to do with the women’s game. In fact, in Dally’s era, women were excluded from playing.

It seems odd every year that the award for the women doesn’t honour a female pioneer and that the NRLW team of the year stands on stage with trophies of a male player, rather than female. Other sports do this, cricket honours Allan Border and Belinda Clarke while football named their awards after Johnny Warren and Julie Dolan.

We sometimes forget that the women’s game didn’t start with the NRLW, it began with some brave women in the early 1920s and there have been so many incredible pioneers since the awards could be named after.

With Ali Brigginshaw retiring this year and her glittering career bridging the divide from the ‘old school’ pre-NRLW days to the modern era, you’d find few who’d disagree that the “Dally Ms and Ali Bs” could be a fitting honour and a solution to the current problem.

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4. Global Round to include Women

There’s talk of the NRL expanding on the Las Vegas project by taking games to other global cities including, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Abu Dhabi. If that’s the case, women have to be involved. The Jillaroos were a part of the second edition of Vegas, but after thrashing England 90-4, they were cut from the spectacle earlier this year.

Rather than eliminating women from the schedule, consider an alternative format. An Australia v Rest of the World match, or a trans-tasman Australia v New Zealand or even the first of the State of Origin games.

If we’re selling rugby league to the world and growing the game, it’s a missed opportunity not to include the women’s game.

5. Improve the state of facilities and support for the women’s game across all clubs

Urinals and limited toilet cubicles, showers without partitions, change rooms that were designed without consideration to female needs, or the women’s players stuck in old, run down facilities. It’s the reality for many in the game and something raised in this article earlier this season. Many of the facilities and stadiums were built before the women’s game and boom of female fans, meaning they’re unsuitable and fail to properly accommodate women.

Another key issue was raised by retiring legend Ali Brigginshaw to foxsports.com.au in the allocation and proper investment of women’s specific trainers, physios and support staff across all teams in the NRLW.

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6. Release the Strategy for Women’s Game

There is currently no public strategy for the NRLW. It’s left many scratching their heads and wondering what the plan is for the women’s game? What is the goal? and what are the steps we will take to get there? The NRL needs to release a five year and 10 year plan for women’s game to inform the public of its goals and provide a clear pathway on how it wants to achieve them. This would give clubs, fans and players the certainty and clarity on where their future lies and what changes need to be made to get there. NSWRL recently released its five year plan for women and girls, while other sports, including golf, make their strategic plans for women public.

7. Female coaching programs and systems

Rugby League is falling behind its overseas counterparts with so few female coaches in the game. The NRLW only has one female coach out of 12 teams, while there are no female assistant coaches in the NRL. This was an issue discussed by foxsports.com.au recently with more female coaches emerging in overseas codes such as the NBL, NFL and NHL. In the women’s codes, 8 of 14 coaches in the WSL in the UK, 7 of 15 WNBA and 25% of NWSL in the US are women.

There are plenty of potential female coaches in rugby league but it would be good to have systems and programs in place to get more women into coaching and identify potential barriers to their progress.

The NFL has programs and, in particular, the NFL Women’s Forum which has been key to their success in this area.

8. Grand Final standalone decision

Peter V’landys raised the possibility of staging a standalone NRLW Grand Final next year. I’d caution against rushing into this. While this may be the end goal, until there is the balanced media reporting, resources and platform to stage and promote the event, it could lead the NRLW Grand Final to be overlooked. It could also result in the complete absence of the women’s game from the sport’s biggest day of the year. If it’s in a smaller stadium with fewer resources, it risks appearing like a temu version of the men’s game rather than an event worth celebrating. If change is the way, please ensure it’s with thorough discussion, research and investment.

9. Reschedule Women’s State of Origin

The current format sees the women play the game’s showpiece event out of the NRLW season. It is staged before the NRLW has even started pre-season, with some of the women not playing a game for 7 months prior. It means the product hasn’t been at the usual standard of the women’s game, yet is given a standalone primetime time slot. It’s resulted in a glass platform concept where the game is provided the perfect platform yet robbed of the tools and timing to make the best use of it. It’s giving a false concept of what the women’s game is to a wide audience and robbing the chance to grow genuine fans of the game.

The NRL needs to find a way to stage the series during the NRLW season, this is easily achieved if points 1 and 2 of this list are in place.

10. NRLW Commissioner or Chief Executive

There is no individual figure or team in charge of overseeing the NRLW. The AFLW has a smilier role with Emma Moore the General Manager of the AFLW and it could be something to consider moving forward to help grow, plan and structure the women’s game.