Kangaroos salary gap exposes the brutal rugby league World Cup inequality
The Australian team's collective NRL salary next year is $16.55 million, while Fiji's best-paid players earn a fraction of that.
The men's Rugby League World Cup has exposed a staggering gulf between the haves and have-nots. Australia's squad for Sunday's match against Fiji is earning $16.55 million in NRL wages combined for next year alone.
Fiji's team features only five regular NRL first-graders by contrast. Australian players are getting paid $40,000 each just for competing in the tournament.
Most of their rivals get $850 per game. The betting odds reflect the mismatch: Australia is paying $1.002 to beat Fiji, effectively unbackable.
Five matches this week all have heavily favoured teams and are expected to produce blowout scorelines.
- $16.55 million
- Australia squad salary
- 5 regular first-graders
- Fiji NRL players
- $40,000 per player
- Australia tournament payment
- $850 per game
- Rival tournament payment
Why it mattersThe salary disparity explains why some World Cup matches are already decided before kickoff, making the tournament less competitive and less interesting to watch.
AustraliaAustralia's dominance in rugby league continues to be bankrolled by the NRL's unequal player payments, reinforcing the sport's concentration of wealth at home.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
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