The QRL's new women's Origin pay deal is anything but equal, as they are set to make only $4000 on game day compared to the men's $15,000.
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Collectively female Maroons rugby league players and fans breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday, as the new 'equal' pay across QLD's women's and men's Origin sides was announced.
But when you break it down, it's not equal. And questions remain if it will be matched once the men's collective bargaining agreement is renegotiated in 2023.
Women's players will be eligible to receive $15,000 in total, but per match the 18-player squad will only receive $4000 for their single match against NSW.
Versus the men, who receive $15,000 per match in a three-game series.
The men's payments were dropped this year from $30,000 - which had been in place since 2013 - to $15,000 per game as a result of COVID cost cutting under a 2021-2022 CBA. The payment is in place for the 2022 series, before a new CBA will be finalised for the following year.
When you break this down, men's Origin players will receive at least $45,000 in 2022 for three games alone, on top of their NRL contracts.
Compared to the $15,000 for multiple camps, and a game, the female players will receive in 2022 on top of their contracts.
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A 30-player Maroons squad will be chosen in March for a series of camps ahead of the June 24 game day, with each player receiving $4000 in total.
Before the squad is reduced to 19-players for the final camp, and those players receive an additional $7000.
Until finally, one player is cut and the 18 others will be paid $4000 for their match against NSW.
This figure aligns with the amount funded by the NRL and is the same figure paid by the NSWRL to their players on game day.
So yes, the QRL will match the men's single game-day pay cheque in total, but it falls short of true equality where female players would be paid $15,000 per match.
Another worry is if the women's game will follow the men's if their CBA is renegotiated in 2023, to raise their match-day payments back up to $30,000.
This remains unknown, but as the NRL is rumoured to make more than $100 million each Origin series there is no reason it could not be matched.
The next issue is the one-game series. As the NRLW will have two seasons next year, along with the Origin match and likely a World Cup, an expansion is not on the cards.
An Origin expansion could come into play in 2023, but a two-game series is being floated.
When asked if the payments would be matched if the women's series expanded, QRL chief executive officer Rohan Sawyer had a very diplomatic answer.
"Our view is, obviously, as we move through an expanded series that we look to pay our players and our staff to make sure we remunerate them for the work that they do," he said.
"So that is something that we would have a look at to make sure that whatever work they are doing for us is on a pay scale that fits."
The $15,000 is a step in the right direction to "compensate" Maroons players for taking time off work because they are juggling work commitments and rugby.
But it has to go a step further - an expanded series, full time NRLW contracts and equal game-day payments.
Brittany Breayley is the prime example of this. The Maroons hooker withdrew from this year's campaign as a result of work.
Queensland coach Tahnee Norris rightfully hailed the increased pay as a game-changer.
"You've got one of the best players in Australia [Breayley] that had to withdraw from an Origin side and in tears having to do that," she said.
"To be able to say to the girls that ... you can concentrate on playing football, and not have to worry about what's going on in the background. That is an exciting part."