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Kiwi columnist blasted for 'disgusting' take on women's rugby

By Sam Smith
(Photo / Getty Images)

A Kiwi columnist has been blasted on social media for his take on the women’s game in a respected New Zealand rugby magazine.

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Writing for Rugby News, radio personality Sam Casey described New Zealand Rugby’s [NZR] investment in women’s rugby as “hush money” as he claimed “there is absolutely no rhyme or reason as to why the Black Ferns or Black Ferns Sevens girls get paid the amount they do”.

Casey also took issue with the fact that the Farah Palmer Cup went ahead last year while other rugby programmes – such as the Heartland Championship, New Zealand Under 20s, New Zealand sevens and New Zealand Schools teams – were cut due to the financial impact of COVID-19.

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“Need I remind you that during that time, hard-working Kiwis employed by NZR were losing their jobs, our national game was bleeding cash, but yet they [women rugby players] saw fit to jump up and down kicking and screaming until they got what they wanted,” Casey wrote in a column headlined ‘Hands Out, Not Up’.

“The cost of running some Probables vs Possibles game for the Black Ferns and the Farah Palmer Cup competition would be enormous, both of which are run at a huge loss.

“Yet the women didn’t have the decency to see that, during COVID-19 times, such fixtures were most definitely a luxury and not a necessity?”

In 2018, a landmark deal was reached between NZR and the New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association that would ensure 30 Black Ferns employed by NZR will receive annual retainers of between $15,000 and $30,000 in addition to their weekly assembly fees of $2000.

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By comparison, New Zealand’s top All Blacks reportedly earn close to $1m per annum, while reports from last year suggest regular, lesser-profile All Blacks command between $450,000 and $600,000 per year.

Furthermore, the All Blacks receive weekly assembly fees of $7500 for every week they are in camp, while the triumphant 2015 World Cup were paid a winning bonus of $160,000.

The Black Ferns, meanwhile, were paid nothing at the time of their 2017 World Cup success in the United Kingdom.

Fully contracted Super Rugby players in New Zealand are also paid between $75,000 to $195,000 per year.

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There is currently no women’s Super Rugby competition in New Zealand, although the Blues and Chiefs staged the first-ever women’s Super Rugby match in the country in a one-off fixture two months ago.

Casey went on to take aim at Wellington Farah Palmer Cup player and outspoken women’s rugby advocate Alice Soper for her effort to “publicly spray NZR about doing everything possible to ensure the All Blacks play, but not the Black Ferns”.

In an interview with RNZ last May, Soper called on NZR to be more transparent about the future of the Farah Palmer Cup amid uncertainty brought on by COVID-19.

“Our game is only going to get better, we are not even near the full potential yet so don’t cut us off now we are just getting started,” she said at the time.

“People were really starting to look at what our potential was and now it is not a question of will we play on a main field, it’s a question of will we get to play and that sucks.”

However, Casey labelled her as “detached from reality” as he described New Zealand’s national women’s teams and the Farah Palmer Cup as “nothing but a cost”.

“She [Soper] honestly believed that during such horrific economic times, the NZR shouldn’t have prioritised the biggest money spinners in the game, the ones that pay for the competition she plays in, the ones that pay the wages of the Black Ferns, over teams that are nothing but a cost. It’s astounding.”

Casey claimed “a lot of the revenue earners, the All Blacks and Super Rugby players of this country, are well and truly fed up” as he called on NZR to “take care of those who make the game in this country what it is”.

He suggested other All Blacks are in line to follow Ngani Laumape abroad after feeling “short-changed” as a result of the “hush money being given to women’s game”.

“My advice to NZR is that it needs to stop being held to ransom. Enough of the hush money. If it starts to become all too much, get yaself [sic] a pair of earplugs.”

Casey’s column attracted plenty of criticism on Twitter after Soper described the piece as a “90s style throwback” when she shared it to her 2,437 followers on Thursday.

“Imagine being so powerful, that a dude you don’t know is still mad about an opinion you expressed (and still stand by!) over a year ago,” she said.

“Turns out, I’m that powerful in Sam Casey’s mind. Thanks for the publicity baaaabes!”

Soper’s tweet has, at the time of writing, drawn 131 likes, 19 retweets and 22 replies, most of which have condemned Casey for his article.

“Absolutely disgusting column. Backwards redneck stuff. A lot of good blokes out there support the women’s game but too many are like Sammy here,” one user wrote.

“WTF did I just read? Words fail me. What a dick,” another wrote.

The column evoked a retweet from Sky Sport commentator Taylah Johnson, a Samoa and Counties Manukau women’s representative, who captioned her tweet with a vomiting emoji.

Canterbury women’s cricket representative Kristy Havill also retweeted the column, of which she said was “disheartening to read on a number of levels”.

One Twitter user invited Casey to “run it straight” at Soper, while others questioned the “chauvinistic rabble” of “someone who’s claim to fame is taking an All Black into the wrong student flat”.

In 2018, Casey made headlines when police were called to a Dunedin student flat in the early hours of a Sunday morning after he and All Blacks star Jordie Barrett entered the property eating McDonald’s mistakenly thinking it was a friend’s place.

Before that, Casey rose to prominence for his infamous pre-match speeches for the Highlanders during their play-offs run in the lead-up to their first-ever Super Rugby title in 2015.

Formerly a host of Highlanders TV and radio presenter for NZME, Casey has joined newly-formed radio station SENZ as a producer for the station’s 4-7pm show, which is hosted by Sky Sport presenter Kirstie Stanway and ex-All Blacks first-five Stephen Donald.

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Jon 3 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

35 Go to comments
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john 6 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

28 Go to comments
A
Adrian 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

28 Go to comments
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Trevor 10 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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