This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Brisbane W-League captain Clare Polkinghorne insists it was important players made a stand during last month’s contract dispute but admits none ever considered walking out on the club.

More than a dozen Roar players, including Polkinghorne, were asked to take pay cuts on increased deals they signed under former managing director Daniel Cobb just days before he was sacked in August.

Within a week the impasse was resolved, with players’ union Professional Footballers Australia stating current managing director Mark Kingsman had honoured the original contracts.

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“It was important (to make a stand), but we also knew the club wanted the best for us,” Polkinghorne told AAP.

“We wanted to do the right thing by the club too and we did work together.

“All the players were all the same page which was really important, and we had pretty open and honest discussions amongst the group and with the club.

“Everyone was pretty confident things would turn out well.”

The issue came at a critical juncture in the women’s game, with a new pay deal confirming all W-League players will receive remuneration for the first time this season.

Polkinghorne felt recent wage improvements in netball and cricket would help push football to further close the gap between salaries of female players and their male counterparts.

“The other codes are putting more pressure on, which is good,” she said.

“We really need to step up and continue to grow the W-League and compete with the other codes, because it’s important for women’s sport in general that all the codes are doing well and gaining interest.

“The better other codes are doing, the better we can do as well.”

The Roar kick off their campaign against Sydney FC on Saturday, furnished with new talent, including Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold, Danish defender Nina Frausing-Pedersen and American midfielder Maddy Evans.

Reigning player of the year Angela Beard and Katrina Gorry have re-signed, with fellow Matilda Tameka Butt also set to put pen to paper.

New coach Mel Andreatta is looking to improve Brisbane results on last season, when they finished fourth on the table before losing their semi-final to champions Melbourne City on penalties.



