United States rugby star Ilona Maher has stated breakaway rugby leagues could possibly be a optimistic for the sport however warned organisers must pay feminine gamers what they’re price.
Maher and the U.S. are making ready to tackle England within the opening recreation of the Girls’s Rugby World Cup in Sunderland on Friday.
Whereas Maher’s quick focus is on the pitch, the emergence of potential breakaway leagues is anticipated to be a story all through the event with the most effective feminine expertise on show.
Maher stated she has been contacted on quite a few events about new ventures, however desires to see motion.
“The quantity of occasions I get the e-mail saying ‘we have got a brand new league developing.’ That is nice. Let’s get it began then and let’s begin paying these gamers pretty and what they’re price,” Maher advised ESPN.
“I might have an interest however I am additionally not going to now downgrade myself or what my price is. It isn’t simply what I deliver on the pitch, I deliver loads on the pitch and I am an ideal participant, however now we’re seeing what I deliver off it as properly and that is I feel what’s actually necessary.”
Probably the most outstanding breakaway league at current is R360, with plans to launch the new-look event in September 2026.
Sources have advised ESPN that Maher is prime of the organisers’ record for who they wish to headline their ladies’s league. Maher is probably the most adopted rugby participant on social media — males’s or ladies’s — on this planet with 5.2 million followers on Instagram and three.6m on TikTok.
The Olympic bronze medallist desires to see extra gamers present their persona on social media and for potential new leagues to worth them.
Info from ESPN’s Tom Hamilton contributed to this report.
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