Former NZ Warriors captain Georgia Hale fears the demise of the NRL women's competition this year will leave an indelible scar on other Kiwis who have crossed the Tasman to play.
The 2021 NRLW has been scrapped, due to COVID-19 complications, despite players voting overwhelmingly to relocate to Queensland - as their male counterparts have done - to start their season as scheduled.
Instead, the NRL will stage two women's competitions next year, one in February and another in August.
With the Warriors electing to sit out this season, several Kiwi women have secured contracts with Newcastle Knights, coached by former Warriors halfback Blake Green. They are now stranded in New South Wales, with no jobs and no way home to New Zealand.
Hales captained the relocated Warriors women last year and opted to remain in Australia, appointed to the Rugby League Players Association women's advisory group and linking with Gold Coast Titans for the NRLW.
"We're all so disappointed, because it came down to a lack of communication, and lack of respect and value for our women's game from the NRL," says the 2020 Young New Zealander of the Year. "The things they could have done differently cost no money.
"We were really just asking for one-percenters like clear communication, and our game to be valued and prioritised. They're really small asks, when you look at the men and what they've done for them.
"As a playing group, we've got around one another - we're all feeling personal disappointment."
The RLPA conducted a survey of players to determine what options were available for the planned season - 75 percent supported relocation away from COVID-19 hotspots.
"As things started to steer in a worse direction in New South Wales, the NRL decided to move the men's competition to Queensland," says Hale. "In that window, there was definitely an opportunity to have our women's teams do the same, to quarantine and be put in a bubble to mirror what the men were doing.
"We totally missed that opportunity. The decisions made by the NRL didn't action the voice we'd spoken with.
"Instead of having options, as a playing group, we felt decisions were being made for us and we weren't being heard."
Hale laments the damage this decision will do to women's rugby league, which has made so many gains in recent years.
"We've done so much work to get the game to where it is today - the competition we're able to play in, the voice we have, our media presence," she says. "Everything's really taken off - sponsorship, crowds, participation - everything's growing.
"Decisions like this are like taking 10 steps back unfortunately.
"There is now a clear pathway for young girls to become NRLW players or Kiwi Ferns players, but it's a shame we're undoing some of our work and that's not as appealing as it once was."
Once the Warriors withdrew, the Kiwi players at Newcastle took a chance to pursue their careers offshore and have seen that gamble turn to dust.
"They are handling it like absolute troopers," says Hale. "They've been through the wringer, but are so positive.
"There are girls in that playing group, this is there first experience of NRLW - they're so excited for it and this is what they've been striving for, but to come in and see the way the game's being treated, the way they're being treated... I just it doesn't ruin the way they look at the competition.
"You only get one chance to make a first impression and unfortunately for some of those girls, it's not the best one.
"They're doing it pretty tough - every day, they're refreshing their computer screens, trying to find a sport in MIQ, trying to find an airfare home. Their goal is to be back for Christmas."
