GAME ON: NRLW players the biggest casualties in CBA bunfight

Back then, she still went by Sam Hammond and she'd just returned from a largely self-funded World Cup tour where she'd been named player of the tournament and was dubbed 'the Billy Slater of women's league' by the late Graham Murray - then the Jillaroos coach.

The reality of time passed hit home this week when she announced she was hanging up the boots on the back of a second World Cup triumph.

It's perhaps the keystone moment of a decorated career but, her most significant contribution to the game could well be the way in which she returned to the pinnacle after twice stepping back from the game to have her two children.

She spoke to that this week, telling the Mercury: "there were so many people who told me how impossible it was.

"There weren't any policies and procedures on how to do it. It was wonderful to do it for myself, but my motivation the whole time was that I didn't want our sport to be like that.

"I wanted it to be that, if you want to do both of those things, you can, and we're going to have a sport that encourages that."

It's unfortunate the NRL doesn't appear to hold the same view.

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A pregnancy policy is a crucial element for players in negotiating a watershed first CBA with the NRL which, even as the teams for the annual All-Stars clash were named on Wednesday, our elite female players remain without.

With no NRLW contracts signed, and none of the protections they provide, it will be a very high-risk exercise for those who do participate.

Even with the addition of four new teams, there's no hint of a schedule or a sign of when clubs can begin signing players.

The lack of respect is astounding but, unfortunately not surprising. It's symptomatic of NRL's general attitude towards its female stars and women's product.

You might recall that the 2021 NRLW season was postponed a month before it was due to begin, with the NRL claiming the logistics and COVID border policies were too difficult to manage.

Given it had just done exactly that in shifting its males players and their entire families to luxury hotels in Queensland to continue the NRL season, people naturally took a cynical view.

It required lengthy negotiations with the Queensland government to subvert previously steadfast COVID travel restrictions.

After kicking its women's season down the road, it emerged the NRL had not even formally inquired with the Queensland government about holding an NRLW season north of the border.

It flew in the face of claims from CEO Andrew Abdo that the game had explored "all avenues" to see the competition go ahead.

Never mind players had rearranged their personal and working lives to ensure they were available for a November competition (don't worry, they got $3500 to cover what would have been a seven-week preseason).

Abdo trumpeted the fact the game had invested $1.5 million in 'relief' for its female players. It was a few months before announcing a $43.1 million surplus on the 2021 season.

It all occurred not long after dumping a "talent equalisation" cap system on the NRLW that "allocated" its biggest stars to different clubs with no regards to their personal preferences.

Those who resisted had to cop a pay cut.

The history of disrespect is lengthening, but the game expects nothing but gratitude in response - and all those PR warm and fuzzies of course.

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Unlike their female counterparts, NRL players have the safety net of an existing CBA that carries over until a fresh one can be negotiated.

Male players taking up the cause of NRLW players seems genuine, though a cynic might suggest its decent leverage in a PR battle of their own.

The truth of it may lie somewhere in the middle but you can bet the women will be collateral damage in any drawn out battle of egos.

Our NRLW stars are ornaments to the game. It's becoming quite apparent that, to the NRL, they are simply ornaments.

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