Today we welcome via a referral from Charlie a new contributor to G&GR: Anaseini Wailutu. Anaseini has significant involvement in rugby in both Australia and New Zealand, and today has the following post (hopefully the first of many):
AU and NZ women’s rugby
Do you remember that scene from Back to the Future I/II when Marty McFly returned to 1985 and he went home, over the gate and climbed through his bedroom window only to find it wasn’t his bedroom or the reality he knew? Well that’s kind of what it’s like on the other side of the ditch for women’s rugby right now. At least for an administrator, player, coach and just all round lover of the game.
When I came to Aotearoa in 2022 to watch the Rugby World Cup, I was blown away by the support this nation showed for female athletes and for rugby in general. Travelling around seeing and hearing the likes of Luka Connor, Kendra Cocksedge, Ruahei Demant all in the same breath as Dane Coles, Aaron Smith or dare I say it the Barrett brothers by fans up and down this small, but proud nation.
Is it any wonder I got swept up in the fanfare? And I’m not ashamed to say that I cried when we all saw that hand rise up out of that lineout denying the Roses their maul and ultimately World Cup glory.
Needless to say I wanted a slice of that glory, I wanted to go to the other side of the ditch, because as we have all seen time and time again, Australia hasn’t quite realised the power of our women in rugby. So, when I ultimately was fortunate enough to get a job over in Aotearoa I was pretty stoked.
When I got here, I felt like Marty McFly, and not because everyone seems to swear by sleeveless puffer vests. It was more that everyday is kind of the same same, but different when it comes to the administration of the game that is (at least where I am based anyway).
It has been so interesting to see that for a nation that has just won a XVs World Cup that XVs seems to be played irregularly by girls. Coaching accreditation and compliance are inconsistent, online registration and competition platform just not powerful or efficient enough to deliver their competitions and well scrums, don’t get me started on scrums. This Prop cries every single time I see an uncontested scrum and in 7s no less!
And while we’re on the subject of 7s, it seems any worthy 7s pathway or major tournament are hosted and run by private organisations or companies whose skin in the game seems to exacerbate the thirst for specialisation in sports by young kids (read: adults). Oh, and the community thinks that anyone who works for a union is out to kill the game. Sound familiar yet?
It wasn’t always like this I’m told, and in fact Aotearoa has very reputable representative opportunities across both major formats of the game. However, it’s the grassroots organisations and systems that seem to be kind of just winging it.
And look winging it isn’t necessarily a bad thing and I can’t profess to know all and sundry, I guess all I’m suggesting is that the land of the long white cloud has its own battles when it comes to women’s rugby.
One thing seems to be the same though between the two rival nations. Unions are still (at some levels/rooms) paying lip service to women’s rugby and sometimes roles such as the one I am in, are quickly dropped in to “take care of them women’s folk”.
Note to my employer, this is not me being ungrateful for giving me this tremendous opportunity, it is me simply saying what I think a lot of people think anyway…
Everyone agrees we need to do something and in fact the community is screaming for it, but without the additional VALUE being placed on women’s contribution to the game as a viable commercial entity then no good can come from the work I am meant to be doing.
That is not to say there hasn’t been additional funding, or thought, but genuine question for you, do you care enough about women’s rugby to give it the equitable resources it needs to be successful beyond last year’s World Cup? Does Rugby Australia care enough to actually book the Wallaroos into business class and maybe not post tone deaf stories of WAGs of Wallabies getting invited to special World Cup going away events then forget about it a week later? Do Rugby Australia and the Super Franchises actually care enough to adequately contract and admit that maybe working a full days work and then attending training twice a week on a weeknight as well as travelling to games might not be conducive to a high performance competition?
The question that needs to be put to them (RA & Super Franchises): do you fellas care enough to do something or do we need to seek alternative arrangements? Because it kind of feels that way.
As a coach who has been a part of state pathways since the Aussie 7s won gold at Rio in 2016 I can safely say that at least every one of the NRLW teams have girls that came through those pathways and that’s only from one state.
So, I ask again, do YOU care enough to do something or should we just hop back into our DeLorean and change our future ourselves?
