‘We want the world’s best athletes’: Bold NRLW expansion plan unveiled
The NRLW will target the best female athletes from around the globe as the competition continues to grow in coming years, with each club to eventually field both men’s and women’s teams.
After announcing that the Bulldogs and Warriors would join an expanded 12-team women’s Telstra Premiership in 2025, NRL CEO Andrew Abdo revealed that the remaining five clubs were working towards their own teams.
The Storm and Rabbitohs issued statements after the announcement confirming their strategies for gaining an NRLW licence, while the Dolphins, Panthers and Sea Eagles have similar ambitions.
“This decision had a lot to do with geography and timing,” Abdo said. “The Bulldogs represent an opportunity in western Sydney, the Warriors represent an opportunity in New Zealand, but so was the investment and readiness of these clubs.
“Pleasingly, we have a program, and we have a strategy, with all of the clubs in that regard so over the coming years we are going to see expansion and opportunities for those clubs to enter the competition at a time that is right for each club.” The Warriors were one of four NRLW foundation clubs in 2018 after the NRL fast-tracked a women’s competition following the interest and demand generated by the 2017 World Cup.
Border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the Warriors to play NRL matches in Australia for three years, led to the Auckland-based club’s NRLW withdrawal in 2021.
Since then, the competition has expanded to include the Cowboys, Eels, Knights, Raiders, Sharks, Titans and Wests Tigers, as well as the Broncos, Dragons and Roosters. Significantly, the expansion of the NRLW has coincided with growth in female playing numbers, from less than 10,000 in 2017 to more than 40,000 this season.
Registrations have increased by 17 per cent this year, with 10,000 girls aged 13-to-15 years old now playing the game in Australia.