Louise Burrows has been to four World Cups and played professional rugby for almost three decades, but she still isn't paid a cent for her sporting prowess.
The 44-year-old is the club's longest active player — she started playing rugby for the ACT in 1995, a year before the Brumbies club was even formed — and she has represented Australia in four Ruby World Cups.
And while Burrows stresses she is "not ungrateful" for the opportunities she has been given, she is well aware of the disparity and the need for change."But to think that the NRL W girls are on $8,000 minimum wage for their short season — that blows my mind.Brumbies Super W players aren't reimbursed for remedial therapies like massage and physiotherapy.The sheer love of the game it what drives some of the Brumbies Super W players to go to great lengths to play the sport.
The Brumbies supply their Super W players with uniforms and pay travel costs to interstate matches, but that is where the reimbursements end. The Brumbies say paying their female players is something the club is aiming to do in the future, but that they are not currently in a financial position to do so.
But Sports Integrity Research Lead at the University of Canberra, Catherine Ordway, said equality on the playing field should not have to be tied to crowd and viewing numbers. "You don't have to look far, we've got the great example of the women's cricket at the MSG that broke the record with 86,000 people there," she said.
Assistant Professor Ordway said equality on the playing field was not just about pay, but also respect, support and opportunities.
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