NZR's Steve Tew says pro women's competition conversation in early stages

  • 17/12/2017
Black Ferns captain Fiao'o Faamausili and Selica Winiata celebrating their World Cup final win over England.
Black Ferns captain Fiao'o Faamausili and Selica Winiata celebrating their World Cup final win over England. Photo credit: Getty

New Zealand Rugby CEO Steve Tew admits a potential professional women's competition is still in the very early stages of development.

The success of the Black Ferns this year has brought on talks a domestic or continental tournament, where women can make the move to rugby full-time, should be put in place.

The New Zealand women's side won the World Cup and were subsequently named Team of the Year at the World Rugby Awards, as well picking up Women's Player of the Year and Women's Sevens Player of The Year through Portia Woodman and Michaela Blyde, respectively.

Speaking to Andrew Gourdie and Jim Kayes on RadioLIVE, Tew concedes the New Zealand women's performances has been hard to ignore, but any talk of season-long, professional competition being implemented anytime soon is premature.

"The conversations are in very early stages and we just got to make sure whatever we put into place, it's sustainable," he says.

"We are in discussions with the players association and a number of our women players, and we're kicking off a bit of work in the new year just to assess what would be a sustainable model for the women's game.

"We clearly want to build on the success of the Black Ferns this year. They've given us a profile we've never seen before for the women's game."

NZR's Steve Tew says pro women's competition conversation in early stages

Tew's mind is firmly focused on the big picture should the women's game be given a professional platform.

He does not wish to rush into anything, and wants to make sure whatever it is they decide to do it is for the foreseeable future.

"We've got to make sure it's sustainable and we've got to make sure the pathway and the development programmes are built in behind whatever competition we would have," he says.

"We just got to make sure we don't end up with the same problem we've got in the men's game, is you get all these young boys playing the game but then they drop off at those critical junctions."

While it seems like the necessary next step in rugby for women in the country, the New Zealand Rugby boss is more than pleased with the progress they have made over the years.

"We have a big investment in the women's game. We've effectively put Black Ferns sevens on the same footing as the men and we extend the Farah Palmer Cup this year, ended up playing two divisions," Tew says.

"So, there's a lot of growth in the game. I think we're up 11 percent across the women's participation numbers, which is fantastic."

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