In March 2020, a significant development emerged in women’s rugby when it was announced that players in the National Rugby League Women’s (NRLW) league would receive compensation for their participation. Mel Kawa, who had recently been appointed as the captain of the Melbourne Rebels rugby union team, was present at a press event to kick off the Super W season, Australia’s national women’s rugby union tournament. At the time, Super W was still an unpaid competition, having been established in the same year as the NRLW in 2018.<\/p>\n
Kawa expressed her excitement for her NRLW counterparts but felt a sense of irony as Raelene Castle, the then CEO of Rugby Australia, addressed the media, stating that the organization would need to “grow towards paying the players to play Super W.” Following the press conference, Kawa was asked to take a photo with a young girl for promotional purposes, a moment that left her feeling uneasy.<\/p>\n
“I felt really sick about myself,” Kawa recounted to ABC Sport. “I almost felt like a fraud holding this little girl’s hand. She looked at me as if I were a role model, but I felt like I wasn’t doing enough for her. I was asking her to play a game without pay when I knew her worth was much greater.”<\/p>\n
Recently retired, Kawa was among 152 athletes from various sports who participated in the inaugural Elite Athletes in Australian Women’s Sport Survey conducted by ABC and Deakin University. The survey revealed that 39 percent of the respondents did not earn any income from their sport, with very few making more than $20,000.<\/p>\n
At 40 years old, Kawa acknowledged the improvements in women’s rugby but described the pace of change as frustratingly slow. Her views resonated with other athletes in professional team sports, including A-League Women (ALW) player Aimee Medwin. “Most players are dissatisfied with the progress we’ve made,” the 26-year-old Medwin told ABC Sport. “We’re at a critical juncture where establishing a full-time league is essential for our success.”<\/p>\n
Kawa’s journey towards earning a salary for her rugby union participation began in 2021, a year after the pivotal press conference. After leading the Rebels to their most successful season, she recalls attending an end-of-season event where board members announced that Super W players would finally receive payment. With corporate sponsors in attendance, the Melbourne team raised approximately $500 per player, enough for each to buy a couple of pairs of boots.<\/p>\n
The following season marked a milestone for Kawa when she received her first salary of $2,000. While the amount was modest, she described it as the “proudest” moment of her career. “It was enough to cover tolls in Melbourne,” she noted. “But it felt like a breakthrough, a sign that recognition was coming for what the players were contributing on the field.” She emphasized that it was never solely about financial compensation, but also about acknowledgment.<\/p>\n
Kawa admitted that financial struggles often made her contemplate quitting rugby. “It was incredibly tough and anxiety-inducing,” she shared. “There were nights after training when I’d break down, questioning whether it was worth the effort. I was dedicating all my spare time to the sport only to be told that we lacked resources and investment.”<\/p>\n
Many rugby union players echoed Kawa’s sentiments in the survey, with some expressing the growing challenge of balancing their sporting commitments with financial stability. One respondent noted that choosing to continue playing rugby meant facing difficulties in meeting mortgage payments and saving for the future.<\/p>\n
As of the 2025 season, Super W players receive $4,000 for their participation in a seven-week competition that includes five rounds of matches and two weeks of finals. While clubs can offer additional payments, the extent of these varies significantly. In contrast, the women\u2019s rugby sevens program, which has been full-time since 2015, is fully funded by Rugby Australia.<\/p>\n
This disparity positions Super W as the lowest-paid domestic women’s professional sporting competition in Australia, with A-League Women players also facing financial challenges. ALW players earn a minimum salary of $26,500 for a 22-round season, which is managed by the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) through a salary cap system.<\/p>\n
This is a stark contrast to the Matildas, whose top players can earn up to $200,000 annually based on their latest collective bargaining agreement. The Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) has highlighted that ALW’s minimum salary ranks among the lowest in major Australian women\u2019s sports leagues, excluding Super W. The organization has recently initiated the ‘Ready For Takeoff’ campaign, a vision for the future of the competition that advocates for immediate professionalization and argues that any additional costs would be quickly offset by increased revenue.<\/p>\n
“We want to be full-time,” Medwin asserted. “We want respect and to be valued in our league.” Medwin, who was part of the Western United roster in 2025, reflected on the current state of the league and the direction it must take for sustainable growth and success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In March 2020, a significant development emerged in women’s rugby when it was announced that players in the National Rugby League Women’s (NRLW) league would receive compensation for their participation. Mel Kawa, who had recently been appointed as the captain of the Melbourne Rebels rugby union team, was present at a press event to kick […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1078,43,1081,1079,997,1080,583,1077],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-au-a-league-women","category-australia","category-au-fifa-women-s-world-cup","category-au-rugby-7","category-au-rugby-union","category-au-rugby-union-world-cup","category-au-sport","category-au-women"],"yoast_head":"\n