The Rugby League Players’ Association (RLPA) is proud to announce the release of the players’ compelling and impactful “Stand With Us” video, aimed at promoting the players’ CBA claims amid the ongoing player action taking place.
‘Stand With Us’ features players from all 27 NRL and NRLW clubs, ranging from Board Directors and Delegates to rookies and 300 gamers encouraging the ARL Commission and NRL to get back to the negotiating table on fair terms. It’s a call to arms in the players’ dispute against a governing body that is trying to bulldoze their employment rights by using unfair and outrageous negotiating tactics against players.
The players want the NRL to protect and respect them, and their CBA deals agreed. The clock is ticking on November 1, where we could be in the chaotic position of having no CBA for men or women. It’s an outcome that would have consequences for every stakeholder in the game.
International tournament revenue and player payments
A prohibition of future player action
Integrity transparency and fair process
NRL ability to terminate the CBAs
Without A CBA, NRLW Players Do Not Have
Protections around player property use
The consultation and dispute resolution processes
Access to information (financial and research)
Access to the Injury Hardship Fund
Access to a new Past Player Medical Support
Access to the General Hardship Fund
International and domestic representative payments
Access to a share of the above-forecast revenue
Access to the Wellbeing & Education Program
An Illicit Drug Policy
Agent Accreditation
A licensing program
Protections around player data collection and use
The NRL is the outlier in our region when it comes to protecting and respecting female athletes playing a major code.
‘Stand With Us’ Dialogue
All NRL and NRLW players are united in their quest for a fair and reasonable collective bargaining agreement.
We are fighting for our autonomy, agreement over our health and safety, informed consent over our data, insurance protections, access to information, and preventing the game from terminating our CBA.
In 2003 the RLPA with its Player Leaders fought for the first-ever collective bargaining agreement. The action those players took then helped accelerate the professional era of Rugby League, guaranteeing minimum wages for the first time, player insurance, and funding for wellbeing and education programs.
Twenty years later we are in a similar fight, and we still don’t have a CBA for NRLW players. Some people think NRLW players do, but a term sheet does not offer us all the protections that a long-form CBA is currently providing female athletes in codes like the AFLW, Cricket, WNBL and even our incredible Matildas.
The NRLW is the only major code in Australia without a CBA and we deserve better than that.
In the men’s game, there is no long-form CBA, an agreement that is supposed to provide us with the protections of all terms and conditions.
The current terms and conditions will expire in 3-months, leaving the entire industry vulnerable. Players are people first and we deserve to be treated with respect.
The NRL and Clubs should want a completed CBA and the protection this provides for not only the players but the entire industry.
They say we aren’t informed – WE ARE
They say we aren’t united – WE ARE
We appreciate all the support from our families and all our fans, who know and understand what we are doing. What we are standing for is not only for us but for all players past, present and future.
We need a true partnership, not a dictatorship.
A CBA is a five-year agreement, it’s about establishing fair rules for that partnership over a long period of time.
These rules will ensure this generation and the next generation of men and women are treated with respect and are protected.
Our families need to know we are safe and are fairly compensated during what is a very short career.
We appreciate playing in the NRL, but we don’t play for the NRL. We play for our families. Our fans. Our Club. That’s who we represent when we cross the white line every week
We invite you to stand with us and show not only the game but the entire industry that we are all united in our desire to create history with our first-ever women’s and men’s joint CBA.
Stand with us.
And let’s get this done.
Speaking Players In Order of Appearance
Karina Brown, Lauren Brown, Clint Gutherson, Josh Hodgson, Emma Tonegato, Isaiah Yeo, Adam Elliott, Kurt Capewell, Raecene McGregor, Tallisha Harden, Shanice Parker, Simaima Taufa, Zahara Temara, Wade Graham, Mitch Barnett, Api Koroisau, James Tamou, Max King, Blake Lawrie, Zac Lomax, Ben Hunt, Zali Fay, Daly Cherry-Evans, Jarrod Croker, Euan Aitken, Harry Grant, Keeley Davis, Bo Vette-Welsh, Cameron Murray, Victor Radley, Chelsea Lenarduzzi, Jada Taylor, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Lachlan Fitzgibbon, Brydie Parker, Felise Kaufusi, Nicho Hynes, Matt Frawley and Joe Stimson.
