THEM: $20,000 US: $5,000
Kiwis, Kangaroos in dramatic pay gap for October test
Kangaroos players will earn four times more than the Kiwis in October’s test between the two nations at Mt Smart Stadium.
Each member of Mal Meninga’s Australian team will pick up $20,000 for the transTasman clash in Auckland on October 13, but the New Zealand players will earn $5000.
Previously when the two teams met in the Anzac test, the NRL would subsidise the New Zealand players, giving them an extra $15,000 so they’d earn the same as the Kangaroos players.
However, the NRL will no longer do this as part of the new collective bargaining agreement with the Rugby League Players Association which began this season.
New Zealand Rugby League CEO Greg Peters confirmed the disparity.
‘‘We’re working closely with the Players Association about what our future player payments look like,’’ Peters said. ‘‘At the moment we have an agreement with our players at those sorts of levels.’’
With such a difference in match payments, it could lead to more players who are eligible for both Australia and New Zealand going with the Kangaroos, especially when a player would also pick up $30,000 for each State of Origin appearance.
Financially, the NZRL can’t compete with Australia, but Peters said they want players motivated by representing their nation, rather than chasing money.
‘‘It’s about building some pride back in the black-and-white shirt,’’ Peters said. ‘‘You should always want to play for your country first and we need to get that belief back around our playing group.
‘‘That’s as much our job as it is for them to play in the middle of the pitch, when they’re playing in that shirt.
‘‘We also have to have a collective international game, look at the affordability of international test league, because we need to ensure that it’s seen as the pinnacle of the game.’’
The problem the NZRL faces is that the Kiwis are one of its main sources of income and money from tests is fed back into the game.
In Australia, the NRL competition makes enough money to bankroll the sport and it’s not so important for their national team to turn a profit.
‘‘It’s a complete different economic model,’’ Peters said. ‘‘We absolutely need international content to drive interest from sponsors, to market the game and grow fan interest.’’
The test against the Kangaroos will be the Kiwis’ only appearance on home soil this year. The day will be a triple-header with the Kiwi Ferns also taking on the Jillaroos and the Junior Kiwis playing the Junior Kangaroos.
‘‘It’s an amazing opportunity for us to finally get a match on our own territory that isn’t part of the World Cup,’’ Peters said
‘‘It launches an international programme we hope over coming years will see a lot more matches played in our own market.’’
It is becoming more common for a women’s test to be played before a men’s test. It happened at last year’s World Cup final and also in rugby where the Black Ferns took on the Wallaroos ahead of each Bledisloe Cup test the past two weekends.
Peters said the NZRL wanted to continue raising the profile of the Kiwi Ferns. ‘‘It’s absolutely critical,’’ he said.