After a stop-start preparation, NRL and NRLW officials have finally confirmed the first batch of games for the historic inaugural Women’s Rugby League season, which is now set to officially debut this coming weekend.
[jwplayer uhR6V6TN]
The women’s league will kick off this coming Saturday afternoon at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, where the Sydney Roosters will take on the NZ Warriors at 3:05pm, serving as a curtain raiser to the men’s NRL elimination final matchup between the Panthers and Warriors at 5:40pm.
The following day, the Brisbane Broncos will clash with the St. George-Illawarra Dragons at Brisbane’s home Suncorp Stadium, kicking off at 1:45pm, before the men’s elimination final between the same two teams begins at 4:00pm that same afternoon.
The four-team inaugural season will take place in a round robin style, with each team set to face each other once throughout the course of the four-week season. The top two ranked sides at the conclusion of the series will then face off in a Grand Final to determine the inaugural NRLW Premiers. That Grand Final is scheduled to take place at ANZ Stadium on the same day as the men’s NRL Grand Final, marking the first time in Australian sport that top tier men’s and women’s football Grand Finals have been run on the same day, on the same stage.
All four sides are littered with world class talent, with the Roosters side alone sporting 11 international-level players.
Round 1 of the Holden Women’s Premiership games! #NRLW #OurWay pic.twitter.com/KLAL5r86Qg
— NRL (@NRL) September 2, 2018
The fixtures for round two, which will be played alongside the men’s semi finals, will be determined once venues have been locked in.
The Women’s Rugby League games will be broadcast live by Channel Nine, with Sydney and Brisbane carrying the game on Nine’s main channel as well as on 9HD. The rest of the country will be able to view the games via Nine’s digital multichannel Gem.
