Livid Wallaroos gamers have unleashed on Rugby Australia, accusing the physique of spending extra money on the Wallabies’ wives and girlfriends than the nationwide ladies’s crew.
In a scathing open letter shared on social media by virtually each present Wallaroos participant, the crew lashed out on the the governing physique over a scarcity of funding and promotion.
“You instructed us flying something past financial system was too pricey. You then flew the Wallabies enterprise class on a visit shorter than ours,” the letter started.
“You instructed us full-time contracts had been within the pipeline, that there wasn’t sufficient cash to maintain the lads within the sport, not to mention us. You then paid $5 million for an NRL participant.
“You frequently say we don’t have sufficient sources and but all of us noticed the World Cup ship off for the Wallabies.
“We’ve seen the influence that girls’s sport has had on the Australian sporting panorama, due to the Matildas.”
Wallaroos star Sera Naiqama, whose brothers Wes and Kevin have each performed within the NRL, took to Instagram to name out Rugby Australia over the VIP therapy of Wallabies WAGs.
The second-rower shared a screenshot of a since-deleted video from rugby.com.au exhibiting Wallabies’ star Carter Gordon’s companion, Abbey Lewis, boarding a Qantas flight.
Lewis additionally shared footage on her private TikTok account documenting her lavish journey to Sydney forward of the Wallabies’ journey to France for the World Cup.
She later deleted it amid the general public backlash.
“No disrespect to the women within the video in any respect, they’re simply dwelling it up, as they need to, how superior is it to have the ability to assist companions? However but final 12 months when the women had been off to the World Cup, they weren’t supplied the identical,” Naiqama wrote.
“It hurts as a result of we’re being instructed there isn’t sufficient funding within the lady’s [sic] sport, but you’re flying WAGs of the Wallabies out, they keep in 5 star motels to allow them to say goodbye earlier than the World Cup?”
“What number of what the f**okay moments are [sic] going to take a seat by?,” she added, claiming the Wallabies had been flown to South Africa in enterprise class in July, whereas the Wallaroos spent 14 hours in financial system on their flight to Canada.
“Our flights (financial system) had been paid for by World Rugby, all Rugby Australia needed to do was pay the fee in between to improve us, however didn’t even suppose we had been price that,” she claimed.
“You’ll be able to delete the video and faux it didn’t occur, however we stored the receipts.”
In one other publish by an unnamed Wallaroos participant, Rugby Australia had been once more lashed for his or her therapy of Wallabies WAGs.
“Wallabies companions higher sorted than the Wallaroos. Their flights, accom, meals all paid for to ‘say goodbye’ to the boys whereas the @wallaroosrugby get stranded in a Canadian airport for 3 days as a result of Rugby Aus didn’t give them a flight dwelling,” the livid participant wrote.
“Wallaroos households/companions don’t even get a free ticket to the sport.”
Simply earlier this 12 months the Wallaroos got part-time centralised contracts after years of being paid a each day charge.
With the announcement of the part-time contracts, Rugby Australia Chair Hamish McLennan claimed the physique was allocating extra money for girls’s rugby.
“Rugby Australia has dedicated extra funding into ladies’s Rugby this 12 months and is pushing laborious for additional funding and company assist,” he mentioned.
“It’s only the start, however the future for girls’s rugby in Australia seems to be very vivid.”
Nonetheless, with current claims, the query of how dedicated Rugby Australia is to this extra funding hangs within the stability.
Rugby Australia has been contacted for remark.
