Collective Bargaining 🤯🤯🤯 Before I start, I want to make it clear how much I love rugby league and appreciate everything the NRL and NRL clubs have done to grow our game in recent years. While things have come a long way, the situation our female playing group currently find ourselves in is concerning and extremely stressful. Along with the issues the men are facing, below I have outlined where we as NRLW players currently stand: * Every player is currently off-contract, without any clear direction on our futures since the current CBA (which we weren’t a part of) ended on 31 October. We are completely in the dark about our football careers, while trying to juggle small businesses and/or the demands of multiple jobs. * NRLW clubs cannot offer contracts because they don’t know what the salary cap is for next year or what the contracting model looks like. * No minimum wage for players has been agreed. * No pregnancy policy has been agreed. * No agreement is in place re the length of our season (despite the competition being expanded), or preseason, which will have a significant impact on health and safety. * There has been a backflip on an already agreed three State of Origin games to two * All players currently representing their respective nations at the World Cup are running the risk of serious injury each game, which will rule them out of contracts/employment next year. There is so much positivity around the women’s game right now and so much room for continued growth via further investment. Right now for the players and clubs it’s completely cloudy though, which needs to be fixed. Speaking up often brings consequences and a perception the players are entitled, spoilt and ungrateful. That is not the case. What the RLPA are working towards for our group is not over the top, and critical for all current and future players. The next 5 years will shape the future of women’s rugby league...please stay at the table and work things out so we can crack on and get ready for an even bigger 2023!