Left to right: Apii Nicholls, Mya Hill-Moana, Kaiyah Atai, Laishon Albert-Jones, Michaela Brake and coach Ron Griffiths at the Warriors NRLW launch. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
NZ Warriors women's coach Ron Griffiths admits he has sometimes arrived at training and sensed it probably wouldn't happen as planned tonight.
"Sometimes, as a coach, you have to walk in and feel the room," he said. "You have to understand they might have had a long day at work, and everything can't be black and white at this stage.
"It's got to be, 'Let's feel the room here, how are we going as a group, are we connected… let's spend some time off the park and connect'.
"'Let's make sure our players get the right amount of recovery and, if they need a spell from footy, let's send them away'."
This scenario illustrates the vast differences between the fulltime, professional men's NRL and the very much part-time nature of the women's competition, even in its eighth season, with a record 12 teams.
"You have some players that don't need to work," Griffiths said. "They can concentrate on rugby league only.
"That's the real upper echelon, the top tier, but there are still a lot of players that work, go to school and also have children on top of that."
Returning to the NRLW after a five-year hiatus, the Warriors will face defending champions Sydney Roosters on Sunday, with a squad consisting mainly of players juggling real lives with their footy aspirations.
Laishon Albert-Jones works fulltime as a teacher's aide. Photo: NRL Photos/www.photosport.nz
Lock Laishon Albert-Jones, 27 - a Kiwi Ferns international, with two seasons of NRLW already under her belt - still works fulltime as a teacher's aide at Rosebank Primary School.
"Sometimes, it can be hard," she admitted. "For me, it's long hours and then long nights, when you come to training.
"Sometimes, I get real tired. There was one day - I think - last week, when I almost fell asleep in the class, just absolutely tired from training the night before.
"It does get difficult at times, but it's definitely worthwhile. It's good for me, making a little bit more money on top of everything else, and it keeps me out of trouble during the day, I guess."
Veteran prop Harata Butler, 32, is based in the Waikato, where she is also a fulltime youth worker.
"From 4-8pm, you're switching from a youth support worker to NRLW player, so it's quite intense," she said. "On the back of that, you're having yarns with your 10-year-old son in the car on the way home, saying, 'I'll see you in about an hour… what did you have for dinner? Have you had your shower?'"
Back home, Aussie halfback Emily Curtain, 23, works fulltime for building equipment company Want Access, which has generously allowed her to operate remotely and part-time on this side of the Tasman, during her Warriors tenure.
Harata Butler works fulltime as a youth support work in Waikato. Photo: NRL Photos
"Not everyone makes enough to just do footy fulltime," she said. "We need that extra piece to get us through the season, but to know the company I work for has my back and always very lenient, when I need time off for footy, has been really, really helpful."
Understanding those off-field stresses is key to bringing out the best from these women.
"I have total admiration for some of our players that have given birth, they're working and they come here at night," Griffiths explained. "We're squeezing them Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday massage, Thursday training, Friday off, Saturday train again.
"In the meantime, they've got a husband at home who might be needy, they've got kids, they're working and bosses are putting pressure on them, so total admiration and respect for what they do."
Griffiths has worked with elite men in clubland and as Indigenous All-Stars coach, so he's well placed to gauge the differences with his women's role, where he has guided Newcastle Knights to back-to-back NRLW crowns in 2022-23.
"The men are fulltime, they're professional," he said. "They've been doing it for a long period of time and are able to cope with those things.
"They'd certainly have vested interest in maybe small businesses and families, but they probably have more time to do those things."
If anything, their extra commitments make these women more multi-dimensional and, dare we say, more well-rounded than their male counterparts, who are generally paid enough to simply throw money at most real-life problems.
"I'm one of 28 in our whole squad, so just imagine the 27 other female, young and mature lifestyles we're all managing," Butler winked. "It's pretty hectic, but as wahine, what can't we do?
"I'm definitely backing us and, when we put our mind to it, we just give it a go."
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