By Nick Campton, ABC
This year's new faces, New Zealand and Canterbury, are not your usual expansion sides. Photo: BIANCA DE MARCHI
The NRLW is bigger than ever before and those down at League Central don't mind telling people about it. It's come a long way in a short time.
At the season launch on Monday, NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo pointed to both the quantity and quality of the competition, which kicks off its newest edition on Thursday night.
It ranged from the 8 million television viewers the NRLW attracted last season, to the first women's Magic Round, which is coming in August, and all the way down to higher ball in-play times.
There's no doubt that women's rugby league has never been bigger but for that growth to continue, the playing standard must remain as high as recent years, which is no mean feat given the competition has doubled in size from six teams to 12 since 2022.
Any time there's such rapid growth, there's a danger of diluting the talent pool and impacting the overall quality of the league, or at least skewing the competitive balance off-kilter.
But this year's new faces, New Zealand and Canterbury, are not your usual expansion sides. The Warriors put the competition in a major market, one that can be a destination for a reservoir of elite talent, while the Bulldogs are a fine example of the benefits of targeting a traditional rugby league stronghold. Both clubs expect to contend from the jump.
The Warriors, who were a foundation club for the competition before the COVID-19 pandemic brought about a four-season hiatus, are light on NRLW experience - only captain Apii Nicholls returns from their last season back in 2019.
But that's not the same as lacking elite-level experience. The Kiwi club has secured two-time world sevens player of the year and double Olympic gold medallist Michaela Brake (née Blyde) as one of their marquee signings along with fellow Black Ferns veterans Tysha Ikenasio and Shakira Baker.
"They've already made an impact with their standards at training. Michaela is the quickest, Tysha is the fittest, they bring so much to that space," Nicholls said.
"It can be a pathway for other elites who want to try something different. They're so skilful and bring a different flavour to the game."
Apii Nicholls is the only Warriors to return from their last season back in 2019 Photo: BIANCA DE MARCHI
Nicholls also believes the presence of the Warriors can unlock overlooked local talent across the nation by offering the chance to play at the highest level while staying at home.
"I've always wanted to help open those pathways for our local players because they're so good, but it can be so hard to be recognised or to travel across the ditch to play to Australia," Nicholls said.
"But we have a club now and it's time to start building.
"It's not just in Auckland. That's the heart of it, but it's Hamilton, the South Island, everywhere. We have to make it more visible and this is the start of it."
The Bulldogs are taking a similar approach of concentrating on home-grown talent.
Their initial roster is topped off with the likes of Cronulla halfback Tayla Preston, Canberra playmaker Ash Quinlan and veteran forward Holli Wheeler, but for the most part, it's been years in the making.
"We've had about eight girls who have already played reserve grade with the Bulldogs, a lot of us know what it takes to play for this club, that Bulldogs DNA has already been ingrained in us," Preston said.
"They're ready to play at this level because they've been through the programs and the systems.
"It shows you don't have to go elsewhere, you can do it at home and reward players from within.
"It's exciting to go down to Lisa Fiaola Cup or Tarsha Gale Cup training and you see the aura around the girls, they talk about playing for the NRLW team, they can strive to be here and they've seen girls from those sides be rewarded already."
If the Warriors or Bulldogs can make good on their promise - and on paper, the finals are a real possibility for both - it will go a long way to helping the competition settle after such rapid growth and, given only one non-foundation club has won the NRLW, any new blood at the top would be welcome.
Even so, perennial contenders Brisbane and the Roosters are again expected to be in the mix, with the Broncos welcoming back Queensland fullback Tamika Upton from Newcastle and, while the Tricolours have lost a gun custodian of their own following Sam Bremner's retirement, they have the depth, class and experience to chase back-to-back titles.
Beaten grand finalists Cronulla are a strong chance of going one better despite the loss of Preston - they've recruited Tyla King, another former Olympian with the Black Ferns, from the Dragons to replace her in the halves and added some muscle up front after signing Caitlan Johnston-Green.
The NRLW season kicks off on Thursday night. Photo: BIANCA DE MARCHI
The Raiders and Cowboys will hold hopes of breaking into the expanded six-team finals series for the first time with North Queensland particularly shaping as a dark horse for a play-off run after signing experienced New Zealand trio Rosie Kelly, Najvada George and Abigail Roache to round out their local talent.
The Titans will face some serious challenges with Evania Isa'ako (nee Pelite) and Shannon Mato both missing the season due to pregnancy, and while Newcastle has secured a fine replacement for Upton in Botille Vette-Welsh, they could lack a little attacking class.
Parramatta, St George Illawarra and Wests Tigers are expected to fight it out at the foot of the ladder, although the progress of their youngsters, particularly reigning rookie of the year Kasey Reh at the Dragons, give them cause for hope.
Not every team has to be successful for the league itself to be successful and the NRLW has the right mix as it strikes the fine balance of keeping the talent pool just ahead of the number of elite-level players required.
But given that balance is so delicate, allowing the competition to settle for a while as teams rise and fall seems a good strategy for the NRLW.
Consolidation seems to be the watchword for the league for the next few years at least, even if Abdo would not rule out further expansion on Monday,
"We've done a collective bargaining agreement that contemplated growing from 10 to 12 teams in the current set-up of the salary cap," Abdo said.
"It doesn't preclude us from growing beyond that, but it obviously requires a renegotiation and we're at a point now where we really want to focus on making sure this season is successful and then again we'll review and have a look at what the road map looks like over the next couple of years."
"[The timeline is] a key strategic question. It's one we're working on together with everyone in the systems, so, the clubs, the players' association, the Commission is really focused on growing the women's game, but that game doesn't necessarily mean just more teams.
"It's making sure that we have an increased pipeline of talent, and it's also the type of competition that we run and the length of that competition."
- ABC
