Mon 14 Nov: Women's RLWC SF: England v New Zealand KO 7.30pm

[shaun mc]

Enjoyed last nights game, as well as the NZ v Australia womens one. Both quite physical. 

Can't agree with Richards moaning about the ruck speed. If that was the case, England neither knew how to adapt, nor had any coaching in different types of ruck speed situations. You can't train at a fast ruck speed and expect the ref to give you that 

A lot of England forward play was one up and there could be targeted and wrapped up by the NZ defenders, therefore getting more bodies in the tackle. Englands 'shape' wad pretty constant in attack, i.e predictable. There wasn't enough going on near to the NZ defensive line, the attack seemed to take place further away from the defence than in previous games, especially the attacking kicks 

But overall, they tried their best and not quite good enough on the night. There were some large, athletic NZ players, but the player I mentioned earlier in the thread as the glue and effort in the team, Hale, is only 5'5" and fairly slim. She also comes from a tag/touch background. 

[RBKnight]

The key thing I think the UK women's game now needs to address is how we create proper player pathways for girls and young women who have taken up playing in the last couple of years (the increase in numbers is considerable)

Will pro clubs who "adopt" a local community club - like Leigh have done with Leigh Miners recently - actually offer any real resources to help develop these players? 

The opportunity is there at a local level for clubs to get sponsorship for their women's team, riding the wave of media interest in women's team sports.

Pleased to say that York Valkyrie will have their own, separate shirt deal next year with Nutrien, a local food supplement start-up, and will no doubt be looking to increase the individual cost of sponsoring players next year (last year it was £750 a pop). Their highest paying gate for a stand-alone women's fixture last year was over 850. 

 

[stookie]

I was very impressed with the English team this WC. Was worried the gap would be much larger between them and Aus/NZ. But this game aside, there were some really good performances. And this one wasn't awful either.

Somehow, someway, the players at the top level just need to start being paid. The first season of NRLW wasn't that long ago, and the players were paid very little. Even now they aren't paid full time wages. But it needs to start in SL, or the gap will grow very quickly.

I thought the ref was reasonably good. The issue in my opinion isn't the ref, but these stupid rule interpretations. Instead of a balancing effect allowing teams to graft or grind back into contention, they act as a multiplier so the good teams are even better and we get these horrendous blow outs. Here in Aus a lot of us hate what these interpretations have done to the NRL competitiveness as well.

[SUPERSTUD]

8 hours ago, BroncoFan said:

Good asssessment, It’s hard to criticise any of them given the effort they put in but I thought Hollie Dodd was underused and they didn’t get much out of either hooker Tara Jones or Keara Bennett.

it’s very frustrating when you have  a star in Sinead Peach and one or two others not involved because they didn’t get on with the coach.

I share your frustration. Regarding Dodd she came on around the 50 min mark. During the previous 45 minutes we had failed to score a point and were being out muscled by the Kiwis. Dodd provides a physical presence has good feet and more importantly an offload game. Something different to break it up. She was definitely underused.

Regarding Peach obviously I am not privy to what goes on behind the scenes. So personally not sure why she was not selected. For me she offers more of a threat out of dummy half than both Jones or Bennett does. I believe she may also possess a kicking game. She can certainly take off as her try in the recent final showed. Both Jones and Bennett are a little one dimensional in so much as their game is based upon distribution from dummy half and not much else. Jones attempts to scoot and force her way over at times but she is neither strong or big enough.

As we now know. Richards has departed and having just watched his post match press conference to me there was a slight intimation that it may not have purely been his own decision although I could be wrong. I have no doubt that during the past five years he has tried his very best. Time for someone else now to take us forward. There should be plenty of interest if a decent framework is put in place.

[meast]

11 hours ago, RigbyLuger said:

And they'll have that opportunity for much longer with family and friends in the bar afterwards too, likewise with the opposition.

Kind of my point, I try not to be too negative but I just thought last night was a great opportunity for the entire England squad to go around the ground and show the appreciation for the fans for coming out and backing them and for the fans to show their appreciation for their efforts.

It should be a mandatory thing in RL, we love the tagline, for everyone etc so let's show it by giving the fans the opportunity.

[meast]

11 hours ago, Hopping Mad said:

Bemused myself. The PA announcement was clarity personified.

It only seems to be sports crowds, I was at the remembrance day service on Sunday and it was impeccable, moving and respectful.

Surely everyone knows how it works by now?

[BroncoFan]

Just as a matter of interest, I have been told that the top Australian players such as Jess Sergis & Isabel Kelly for example are on over $100k per year.

That is unconfirmed, this year they have played 2 NRLW seasons, SoO and now a World Cup. They also have big sponsorship deals and feature on tv ads with those companies.

This is so good for the womens game and hopefully the English girls can start to earn something for their efforts. Hopefully don’t lose any to RU.

[unapologetic pedant]

2 hours ago, BroncoFan said:

Just as a matter of interest, I have been told that the top Australian players such as Jess Sergis & Isabel Kelly for example are on over $100k per year.

I`d be surprised if that figure is reliable. As far as I know there are no full-time female pro RL players. As mentioned earlier some have off-field jobs within the game, but the payments for playing received by the vast majority from the NRL have thus far only really been compensation for time away from their regular employment.

During the NRLW years a number of those who impressed in State comps had to knock back offers of contracts because they either couldn`t get, or afford to take, time off. Maddie Studdon was sacked from her job as a Wharfie because she was taking too much time off for SOO training in 2018.

The NRL haven`t yet decided when next year`s NRLW will take place or what the salary cap will be. It`s more vexed with an expanded and longer comp. The players will have to take extra time off work and the NRL has to find the funding for 4 additional squads.

Negotiations with the RLPA stalled and a week ago they issued a statement. A few select quotes give the flavour -

"As players, we are frustrated with the current state of our CBA negotiations"

"We have already played five seasons of NRLW. We have invested in the start-up and growth of the competition. It has come at a cost to our personal lives, families, employment, and studies but we have committed to making these sacrifices because we are pursuing our dreams and we want to build strong foundations for the future of the game"

"However, the lack of security and certainty does take a toll and we believe it is time that we are afforded the respect we deserve through the first ever women`s CBA. This CBA is intended to change that and provide all players with a clear pathway to pursuing a professional Rugby League career"

[gingerjon]

7 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

I`d be surprised if that figure is reliable. As far as I know there are no full-time female pro RL players. As mentioned earlier some have off-field jobs within the game, but the payments for playing received by the vast majority from the NRL have thus far only really been compensation for time away from their regular employment.

During the NRLW years a number of those who impressed in State comps had to knock back offers of contracts because they either couldn`t get, or afford to take, time off. Maddie Studdon was sacked from her job as a Wharfie because she was taking too much time off for SOO training in 2018.

The NRL haven`t yet decided when next year`s NRLW will take place or what the salary cap will be. It`s more vexed with an expanded and longer comp. The players will have to take extra time off work and the NRL has to find the funding for 4 additional squads.

Negotiations with the RLPA stalled and a week ago they issued a statement. A few select quotes give the flavour -

"As players, we are frustrated with the current state of our CBA negotiations"

"We have already played five seasons of NRLW. We have invested in the start-up and growth of the competition. It has come at a cost to our personal lives, families, employment, and studies but we have committed to making these sacrifices because we are pursuing our dreams and we want to build strong foundations for the future of the game"

"However, the lack of security and certainty does take a toll and we believe it is time that we are afforded the respect we deserve through the first ever women`s CBA. This CBA is intended to change that and provide all players with a clear pathway to pursuing a professional Rugby League career"

Were these payments and the proposed expansion for 2023/4 agreed?

https://www.nrl.com/news/2022/03/15/stars-set-to-earn-fulltime-deals-in-expanded-nrlw/

[unapologetic pedant]

On 16/11/2022 at 06:31, gingerjon said:

Were these payments and the proposed expansion for 2023/4 agreed?

https://www.nrl.com/news/2022/03/15/stars-set-to-earn-fulltime-deals-in-expanded-nrlw/

Most of the NRLW details in this article were superseded by the subsequent decision to go straight to 10 teams in 2023.