Former NRLW star Katie Brown has lashed NRL over 153 per cent increase in women’s salary cap

The NRL is looking down on a gender war as battle lines are drawn on social media over the equity of investing in women’s football for 2023 and beyond.

After months of uncertainty and protracted negotiations between the NRL, clubs and the Rugby League Players Association, the 2023 salary cap was finally revealed on Friday.

It was a record rise from $9.6 million in 2022 to $12.1 million in 2023 for the men’s competition, while the cap for NRLW sides increased by 153 per cent to $884,000.

The increase in the salary cap for men was 25 percent.

While the significant increase in NRLW player salaries was hailed by many soccer fans, others were outraged that the full salary cap for a women’s team didn’t even equal the salary of a single standout player in the competition. masculine.

Journalist Katie Brown played two matches for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the 2020 NRLW competition, calling the money allocated to the women’s competition a “joke”.

Katie Brown receives her Rabbitohs jersey from two legends of the game, Tarsha Gale and Dean Widders.

Lol ‘record’ bids for the NRL ($12.1 million) and NRLW ($884,000). You are giving a whole group of women the salary of ONE man. what a joke #NRLW #NRL,’ she tweeted.

Many supporters were quick to declare that the women’s competition still does not generate the same income as the men’s competition, so the same high salaries cannot be expected.

‘Supply and demand for that. The number of interested parties who want to see NRLW is still not the same. One day it might as well be and hopefully but right now the TV networks aren’t willing to pay more,” one fan replied in a thread that got heated at times.

The men who commented were accused of ‘mansplaining’, while some attacks on the quality of football played in the NRLW were so savage that the Daily Mail Australia chose not to publish them.

Others pointed to the fact that the NRLW was only played over five rounds in 2022 as proof that players were not yet entitled to the riches that NRL men enjoy.

NRLW has had 5 seasons? They play shorter games and only play 5 regular season games assuming they have a 2-3 week preseason which is fair pay for where they are right now. Rome wasn’t built in a day,” one fan replied.

Australia’s women’s team lift the trophy during the Rugby Women’s League World Cup final match between Australia and New Zealand at Old Trafford.

Brown herself later said that comparing salary caps was unfair because the CBA and the draw for the 2023 season had not been finalized.

“To be clear, I am not suggesting that they be paid the same as men. There is no draw or confirmed CBA, so how can his salary cap be determined? That is my concern,” she posted.

Commentator Lavender Baj tweeted: “For context: Kalyn Ponga didn’t win a premiership for the Knights, but he earns more than the entire NRLW team that brought home the trophy for the first time in two decades.”

The NRLW will also expand to 10 teams in 2023, with the Canberra Raiders, Cronulla Sharks, North Queensland Cowboys and Wests Tigers joining the competition.

Former Brisbane Junior Rugby Union employee and NRC player Jo Staples said the NRLW’s salary cap increase would likely see a player move from the union to the league.

One commentator pointed out that Knights star Kalyn Ponga earns more than the entire Newcastle NRLW side (captain Millie Boyle is shown running the ball in the grand final)

‘We are going to see more women leave the union, right! Why wouldn’t gamers go make a living, she posted.

While the salary cap news would have been welcomed by many NRLW players, they are still angry about the fact that the draw for the competition has yet to be released.

Unlike their male counterparts, many professional female players do not earn enough to make a living from the game full-time and have to supplement their income with a second job, which is almost impossible when they don’t know when and where they will be playing. be playing well in advance.