Clash of the code heats up
Stacey Waaka’s code switch is a big deal and should sound alarm bells throughout the corridors of New Zealand Rugby. Sixteen months have passed since Waaka was named player of the match when the Black Ferns beat England in an epic Rugby World Cup final before a record crowd at a heaving Eden Park.
While returning to sevens since, ahead of targeting another Olympic gold medal at the Paris Games in July, the 28-year-old from Ruatoki is one of the game’s stars.
Supremely talented on the field, she is also a major commercial asset in promoting women’s rugby, attracting endorsements and featuring in adverts with high-profile companies.
Her trademark grin when scoring a try, earning her the “smiling assassin” nickname, is the dream shot for photographers and those marketing the sport.
And yet, Waaka is switching to rugby league after the Paris Olympics to join the Brisbane Broncos. It’s by far the biggest move between the codes made by any Black Fern.
She is not the first elite women’s rugby player to be targeted by the expanding NRLW. She also won’t be the last.
The raid from rugby league is coming, with greater certainty surrounding its sustainable domestic competition that generally gives players more money and resources to chase the dream of having a professional career in sport, or provide a decent payday for some nearing retirement.
The third campaign of NZ Rugby’s semi-professional competition, Super Rugby Aupiki, has started with lingering concerns over its sustainability and whether it can provide a long-term pathway for young women to train and play as full-time athletes.
As it stands, only the Black Ferns are fulltime (sevens has been for more than a decade, too) and those missing out on contracts are looking elsewhere, as former test players Cheyelle Robins-Reti and Tafito Lafaele did last year, heading to the NRLW, although they have returned to this season’s Super Rugby Aupiki.
This is a huge problem for rugby and could soon become a crisis. Stuff understands that Black Ferns and Kiwi sevens stars are at the top of the NRLW’s most-wanted list. Another significant threat for rugby, in what could be a watershed year for the game in the battle to retain its stars, is the return of the Warriors’ women’s team in 2025. Their comeback is expected to force a sizeable shake-up in the player market. Granted, Waaka’s move to the Broncos doesn’t spell the end of of her career in sevens or rugby. In fact, she is contracted to return to sevens through to 2026 and could even make a comeback to 15s for next year’s Rugby World Cup in England, something Black Ferns coach Allan Bunting will no doubt pursue.
She is also an exception, a special player who has won every major honour in both sevens and 15s and has the skill and temperament to hop between each when she wants. League will nonetheless be a new challenge, where it’s expected she will play centre or fullback.
Many top Black Ferns are contracted through to next year’s World Cup and the lure of the global tournament is strong, as is wearing the famous black jersey (although star outside back Ruby Tui has yet to commit beyond this season).
Still, the trend of rugby players showing a curiosity in the NRLW is not slowing down. Waaka is following long-time sevens team-mates Tyla King (née NathanWong), Niall Guthrie-Williams and Gayle Broughton, a trio who have prospered in the 13-player code.
Players can still cross codes throughout the year, as King and Guthrie-Williams have done, because there isn’t a schedule clash. That won’t last forever, however. They will have to choose one or the other.
The brewing code war is heating up.