Newly appointed Canterbury chief executive Raelene Castle says rugby league has made significant strides in improving its attitude towards women and she wouldn’t have joined the Bulldogs if she didn’t think that was the case.
With assault allegations levelled against South Sydney’s Ben Te’o and North Queensland’s Robert Lui back playing in the NRL after his conviction for an assault charge, the spotlight is once again on the NRL.
Castle said the NRL has a responsibility to lead the way in improving and maintaining cultural attitudes towards women.
“For me it is all about that determination to make a difference and help in those situations,” she told AAP.
“It is only early days for me and I’m not really on the inside yet.
“But from the outside I would say that if you went to any bar on a Saturday night there are some things that culturally we would say are not acceptable and I don’t think rugby league is any more or less reflective of that.
“The opportunity we have when we work with players (for) 40, 50, 60 hours a week is that we can change attitudes.
“We can work with them to show what it is to respect women, what is to understand cultural diversity.
“We have an opportunity to make it even better. I would never say we can eradicate it completely because unfortunate situations can occur.”
However Castle said rugby league still had some work to do.
“When you are a high-profile player with a lot of money and a lot of profile that puts you in some very difficult situations, it is about being aware of those situations and making good decisions,” she said.
Castle, the current chief executive of New Zealand Netball, will become the first female chief executive of an NRL club since Liz Dawson headed up the now defunct Adelaide Rams in 1997 and early 1998.
She officially starts with the Bulldogs on July 15.
Castle succeeds Todd Greenberg who will join the NRL as head of football.