The women's rugby league season has announced it will push back its playing season due to COVID-19, but questions have arisen as to why they can't have a players bubble like the men's league.
When the COVID-19 situation in New South Wales began to worsen, the Government and NRL made arrangements for teams to stay in Queensland and play the rest of the season there with a 'bubble' that they would remain in. They later approved families to join the players in the bubble.
The NRL are reportedly spending up to $15 million a month on the men's hub.
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said the bubble wouldn't be possible because of tighter COVID-19 restrictions compared to the time when they made the decision for the men.
"We explored all avenues, but it is simply not possible," Abdo said.
"When the men's competition was relocated to Queensland there were 77 cases in NSW on that day.
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo. Photo via Twitter.
"There's now consistently over 1,000 cases a day and restrictions around border closures are much tighter than they were in the middle of the year.
"We also acknowledge that nearly all of our NRLW athletes are not full-time athletes.
"They have careers off the field that limit the ability to relocate for a long period of time and that's something we also considered carefully."
The newly expanded six-team NRLW competition was due to begin in October and the postponement was announced just 10 days before pre-season was due to start.
The shock announcement sent players who relocated from Queensland back to their state for a 14 day quarantine, and Aotearoa/New Zealand players stuck in Australia due to border closures.
The NRL will also need to factor in the annual women's All Stars fixture which is usually played at the start of the year.
Since the announcement was made, there has been a lot of scrutiny of the decision and support for the women across social media.
Love the support of a big figure in the NRL regards to NRLW. The support is elite 👏🏼 https://t.co/PVkmgiNzgo
— Jamie Stanton (@JamieStanton20) September 7, 2021
Wow. NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said "We explored all avenues, but it is simply not possible" in regards to the NRLW competition. Queensland Health says it didn't even receive an application from the NRL. Unbelievable. https://t.co/DyWV6HPIrV
— Adrian Arciuli (@Adrian_Arciuli) September 7, 2021
NRL reporter Katie Brown wrote a letter to the NRL and Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) on their handling of the women's season, asking for them to "stop disrespecting women".
"You are doing it, and you don't even know you are doing it because you are so out of touch and oblivious to their situations. It comes across like you don't care, and it's embarrassing," the her letter said.
"They sent a player poll out, The options were: Relocation, delay, or 'next year'.
"Seventy-five per cent voted relocation, that was ignored."
"The game didn't actually think the women would move."
Abdo has responded saying he understands the backlash from the competition's postponement but dismissed claims players weren't kept up to date throughout the process.
"I'm comfortable to set the record straight," he said.
"We had a Zoom call and invited the 124 NRLW players and had 120 on the call. That was a week to 10 days before the announcement.
"We communicated very clearly what we had been doing, what our options were and where we were going with this competition.
"I completely understand the frustration of not being able to play right now but what we have to be aware of is out of a group of 140 players, and the officials, it just wasn't possible that everyone could commit to relocating."
Abdo also hinted at a pay increase for NRLW players next season.
"What's exciting is how the players can then get remunerated. I think you're going to see a significant set change in what that remuneration looks like."
The 2022 schedule will include a Women's State of Origin, a fifth season of NRLW and the World Cup.
By Teisha Cloos
