RL Cares launches the RL Players Portal

Rugby League Cares is today launching the Rugby League Players Portal, an exciting new online resource which underlines the charity’s commitment to promoting the welfare and wellbeing of current and retired players.

All the information on the portal supports our player welfare programme: we hope the stories and case studies will inspire and inform current and former players alike.

The portal is designed to be a ‘one-stop shop’ for professional players and their families and features a wealth of advice and information curated to enable the sport’s most important stakeholders to lead successful and fulfilling lives, both on and off the field.

Alongside articles covering issues such as career planning, personal development and managing personal finances, the portal includes case studies from players sharing their own experiences of both achieving success and tackling tough times.

Much of the content is video-led and has been brought together from a wide range of sources, including features produced by RL Cares and professional rugby league clubs plus stories and videos from other sports.

There are links to RL Cares’s official partners, all of whom are experts in their field and able to offer unrivalled levels of service and advice to the playing community.

The development of the RL Players Portal has been spearheaded by RL Cares Transition Manager Francis Stephenson, who will now work alongside a specially-convened panel of individuals with expertise in a wide range of fields across the sport to ensure the portal is regularly updated with interesting, relevant and informative content.

“All the information on the portal supports our player welfare programme: we hope the stories featured, especially case studies from recently retired players, will help inspire the current generation to learn from the experiences of those who have gone before them,” said Stephenson.

“Our players can learn not just from their peers but from athletes in other sports. If we find, for example, a particular topic involving a jockey, a golfer or an NFL player, and it’s relevant to the journeys our players are on then we’ll share it on the portal.

“The aim is to make the portal a one-stop shop for best practise and advise for all players, whether that’s during- or post-career.”

The RL Players Portal augments the sterling work being done at club level by dedicated player welfare manager, who will help shape and influence much of the content that is shared on the portal.

“RL Cares has a fantastic approach to player welfare, we endeavour to be best in class and aim to deliver one of the best welfare programmes in sport,” added Stephenson.

“The strides we have taken in the last few years since we took on responsibility for delivering player welfare from the RFL are immense.

We have moved the bar in the right direction but we are always striving to improve: the RL Players Portal allows us to do that.”