Fans of rugby league and rugby union have slammed a new affirmative action initiative named the ‘Whiter Player Policy’.
They claim the policy is similar to affirmative action in the modern workplace, and accuse the sports’ administrators of caving into political correctness and the woke agenda.
The policy, to be implemented in 2026, would force professional and representative teams in rugby league and rugby union to recruit a quota of ‘white’ players in their team, or face substantial fines or even the loss of premiership points.
The ‘Whiter Player Policy’ aims to prevent the complete domination of the two codes by players of Pasifika heritage who hail from Samoa, Tonga and Fiji, or who boast Maori heritage.
Every professional and representative team of the modern era is made up of a large number of Pasifika players and the numbers appear to increase every year, as does the percentage of Pasifika players in junior representative teams.
Furthermore, Tonga recently defeated New Zealand in the men’s rugby league Pacific Championship and denied the Kiwis the chance to defend their title against Australia. Many of the New Zealand players boast Maori heritage.
“We need to deliberately redress the imbalance in our games,” began a joint statement from the two codes.
“The Whiter Player Policy will ensure that ‘white’ players, who are currently underrepresented in the sports’ top tier, have an opportunity to excel in their chosen sport. Deliberately forcing ‘white’ players to be chosen now will see them gain selection in their own right in the years to come.”
“Each team will be required to demonstrate, before the beginning of the season, that their playing squad comprises a minimum number of ‘white’ players. Each player’s lineage and family heritage will be thoroughly examined by professional historians, and this evidence will be used to judge compliance among every team.”
Fans are furious, and have taken to social media to express their anger.
“More pandering to the bloody woke lefties!”
“Choose players on merit not skin colour”
“Keep your hands off sport. Politics and sport don’t mix”
“Put the best players on the field, not the whitest ones – I don’t wanna watch reserve grade!”
“If you’re not good enough, bad luck”
Administrators explained that the policy was aimed at keeping ‘white’ players in the game from junior level to representative teams, quoting a popular adage:
“You can’t be what you can’t see.”
“We want to keep young white kids playing our sports and for that reason we believe it is vital to provide them with role models they can look up to and emulate.”
“Without such a policy, both codes could see teams (including Australia’s national teams) made up entirely of Pasifika players in the near future.”
Image: Lachie Millard
The Frownlow Medal 