After months of anticipation and excitement, a new era for the NRL will begin with the first matches of the NRL Women’s Premiership to be played this weekend.
The NRL becomes the latest sporting organisation in Australia to introduce a women’s league, following in the footsteps of the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL, established in 1981), W-League (2008), AFL Women’s (2017), and most recently, Super W (this year).
The establishment of the NRL Women’s Premiership comes hot on the heels of the success generated by last year’s Women’s Rugby League World Cup, in which Australia defeated New Zealand by 23-16 in the final at Suncorp Stadium.
When the announcement was made last December that the league would be established in 2018, several teams started lodging their applications to enter the competition, with four teams – the Brisbane Broncos, New Zealand Warriors, St George Illawarra Dragons and Sydney Roosters – each winning a license.
A major factor behind their applications would have been the geographical spread of prospective players. On that basis alone, the Broncos and Warriors were successful, while the Roosters and Dragons’ bids involved covering the northern and southern halves of New South Wales respectively.
And so work began on building the team lists, with the Dragons securing club ambassadors Sammy Bremner, who has been named captain, and Kezie Apps, who will serve as her deputy, as marquee players, as well as Kiwi Ferns centre Honey Hireme.
The talent was spread out evenly across the league, so as to prevent the possibility of a Broncos vs Warriors grand final, as it was obvious those two clubs would load their playing lists with the best players from Queensland and New Zealand respectively.
That being said, the Broncos missed out on the signatures of Queensland Origin captain Karina Brown and her fellow state teammate Annette Brander, who have joined the Roosters and Dragons respectively, while the presence of Honey Hireme in the Red V guernsey could come back to haunt the Warriors if the Dragons finish higher than them in the inaugural competition.
Now, after months of anticipation and hype following the announcement of the competition, it’s time for the players to let their football do the talking.
Just 16 years after their men’s sides met at the same venue in the 2002 NRL Grand Final, the Roosters and Warriors’ women’s sides will create history when they contest the first ever women’s premiership rugby league match at 3:05pm.
It is set to be a huge day for Warriors fans; not only will they see their women’s side in action for the first time, their men’s side will also contest its first finals match since the 2011 Grand Final when they play the Penrith Panthers in a knockout final immediately after.
The women’s side, who are coached by former Kiwi Ferns captain Luisa Avaiki, appear a strong side on paper with the majority of their squad having played representative football at some point in their careers.
As you’d expect for a New Zealand-based team in an Australian sporting competition, most of these players come from local leagues, and they are capable of scoring anywhere on the field.
They are coming off a huge 32-4 win over Auckland in a recent trial match, and so they will be up there among the early favourites for the title.
On the other hand, not only will the Roosters have to contend with playing in front of what should be a pro-Warriors crowd, they’ll also do so without the support of their men’s side which will be preparing for its qualifying final against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks across town at Allianz Stadium.
They also have star power in their side in the form of both Origin captains, Karina Brown on the wing and Maddie Studdon at halfback, as well as Blues centre Isabelle Kelly, though it’s reigning Dally M Female Player of the Year, Simiana Taufa-Kautai, who has been named the captain of the side.
Maddie Studon of Australia celebrates scoring a try (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
Lavina O’Mealey is in the final year of her professional rugby league career and she will also be keen to make an impression in her only season in the NRL Women’s Premiership.
Roosters fans keen to watch both the women’s and men’s sides in action on Saturday will not only have to cross town in between matches, but they’ll also have to face a swarm of Sydney Swans and GWS Giants fans who will be filing out of the SCG at around 7:00pm, which is when the Sydney Derby AFL elimination final is scheduled to finish.
The following day, the Brisbane Broncos and St George Illawarra Dragons will face off at Suncorp Stadium in what will serve as a curtain raiser to the men’s sudden death elimination final between the same two clubs later in the afternoon.
A thrilling finish to the men’s regular season saw the Broncos men’s side finish sixth (narrowly missing out on fifth place to the Penrith Panthers on percentage) and line up a do-or-die showdown against the seventh-placed Dragons.
Thus, it was easy to schedule the women’s clash between the same sides in the curtain raiser timeslot, making for a huge day for fans of both clubs in Brisbane this Sunday.
The Broncos will start favourites after thrashing Papua New Guinea by 48-14 in a trial match played prior to the men’s side’s clash against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles at home last Sunday.
Boasting eleven internationals, including Maroons halfback Ali Brigginshaw and Kiwi Ferns forward Teuila Fotu-Moala, Paul Dyer’s side look like one that is seriously capable of taking out the inaugural NRL Women’s Premiership.
By contrast, the Dragons have had no match play as a team yet, with their players relying on training sessions and local Grand Finals as their means of preparing for Sunday’s big clash.
While Sam Bremner and Kezie Apps are the most notable to fans, the player they should really watch out for is Honey Hireme, who has been dubbed the female version of Sonny Bill Williams as she has played both union and league.
A large crowd will be expected for that match-up in what could be the locals’ only chance to see their side in action, with the men’s side to be put on the road for the remainder of its finals campaign if they beat the Dragons in the second match of the Suncorp Stadium double header on Sunday.
And so, come Saturday afternoon, the time for talk is over and it will be the ladies’ time to shine in the inaugural NRL Women’s Premiership, which will be contested over the course of the NRL men’s finals series.
The four sides will face each other in a three-week period, with the best two teams to contest the Grand Final on Sunday, September 30.
The competition will operate mostly the same as the men’s game, except matches will be 60 minutes long, with each half 30 minutes.
The 40/30 rule will be in effect, which is a variation of the 40/20 rule seen in the men’s game.
The normal rules involving golden point will also be in effect, while ten minutes of extra time will come into effect if the Grand Final is tied at the end of regulation time.
If the teams are still tied after 70 minutes, an indefinite period of golden point will then be played until either team scores first.
There has not yet been any talk of expansion, but if the competition becomes an instant success as many believe it will, then there could be an expansion to the league in the not-too-distant future.
Let the games begin!
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