Landmark deal Professional contracts for 30 Black Ferns
It’s a start. A very good start, admittedly, but still just the beginning for professional women’s rugby in New Zealand.
In basic terms, 30 of this country’s best female 15 a-side rugby players stand to earn
$40-45,000 this year, as part an historic agreement between the players’ association and New Zealand Rugby (NZR).
The 30-contracted Black Ferns players will have to assemble for
50 days this year, as part of their national duty, on top of training within the high performance men’s provincial programmes.
England had funded a professional 15s programme ahead of last year’s Rugby World Cup, won by New Zealand, but have since diverted the money to sevens. That puts the Black Ferns 15-a-side players in a class of their own.
New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association (NZRPA) chief executive Rob Nichol said the top 30 would need to work to flesh out their rugby income as the contracts were based on time equivalents.
Nichol estimated those players would get $40,000-$45,000, which he said was competitive.
In time, NZR hope to see those
50 days increase and for the contracted players gradually move towards fulltime professionalism. For now, though, all parties are pretty chuffed with what’s been agreed to.
‘‘I honestly believe it’s a really good deal and we’ve got to be positive about it. It’s a start,’’ Black Ferns halfback Kendra Cocksedge said.
A former world player of the year, Cocksedge was one of a handful of Black Ferns who helped broker this deal. She was at every meeting, participated in every conference call and knows the detail back to front.
Not least because, when she’s not playing, Cocksedge is NZR’s women’s rugby development officer for the Crusaders region.
‘‘I see both sides, so I know exactly what’s been involved in the whole process. It’s been a really long process and it’s been really good. It’s a start.’’
And a decent one. NZR general manager of rugby Neil Sorensen said the Black Ferns would now enjoy terms and conditions equivalent to a ‘‘fifth-year Super Rugby player.’’
The major difference, he added, was that those male players, apart from annual leave of between four and eight week, were fulltime. The Black Ferns were getting the same for just 50 days in camp a year.
Everyone’s goal now is to grow the team’s commitments and generate some revenue streams.
For now, though, an important pathway into professional sport has been opened for female athletes.
‘‘When I came through the ranks, there was none of that. I knew I was going to be playing for the love of it - and I still do play for the love of it and it will always be about that - but I think it’s a real opportunity for the future,’’ said Cocksedge.
Eventually we might see players involved in a Super Rugbytype competition and be aligned to franchises. In the meantime, the 30 contracted players will become part of the existing men’s high performance at academy programmes at 14 of New Zealand’s provincial unions.
It’s a model Cocksedge is familiar with as well.
‘‘Canterbury Rugby Union had an academy that I was a part of about three or four years ago, with the boys, and I think it was probably one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.
‘‘You push them, they push you. I remember [now All Blacks prop] Nepo Laulala; I’d be beating him at fitness and he would always try to beat me.’’
At 29, Cocksedge said she was nearing the end of her rugby career. So, in many ways, the real beneficiaries of yesterday’s announcement are the age-group players still deciding whether it’s football, hockey, netball, basketball or rugby that they can pursue their dreams in.
‘‘The biggest thing for New Zealand Rugby is we’re offering these contracts.
‘‘Girls are going to see and girls are going to want to play,’’ Cocksedge said.