NRLW clubs set to field reserve grade teams after changes to NSW comp

NRLW clubs are set to introduce reserve grade teams from next season, with the NSW Women's Premiership to start in July and act as a feeder competition.

Top players had previously been able to play in the Harvey Norman NSW Women's Premiership before the NRLW started, but the competitions will now run concurrently to increase depth and boost development.

The changes are the most significant in the short history of the NRLW and NSWRL competitions, and are intended to increase opportunities for female players to pursue professional playing careers.

NRLW players not selected in their club's 17-woman squads on match day will now be able to maintain fitness and press for selection by playing reserve grade, whereas in previous seasons they had to sit out.

The move to run both competitions concurrently will allow the NSW Women’s Premiership to act as a direct pathway into the NRLW, just as The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup does for the NRL.

The NSW competition, which started in 2005 and expanded into its current format in 2017, will also increase to 12 teams in 2024 following the addition of the Parramatta Eels and Manly Sea Eagles.

The six NSW-based NRLW clubs - the Dragons, Eels, Knights, Roosters, Sharks and Wests Tigers - field teams in the NSW Women's Premiership, along with the Bulldogs and Sea Eagles, who have NRLW aspirations.

The Raiders have an affiliation with Mounties, who won the 2023 NSW Women's Premiership.

It is understood that some clubs are keen to play NSW Women's Premiership matches as curtain raisers to stand-alone NRLW fixtures.

The NSW Women’s Premiership will kick off mid-season with the NRL announcing last month that the Telstra NRL Women's Premiership will start on Thursday, July 25.

The first three-match women's State of Origin series will be played on May 16 at Suncorp Stadium, June 6 at Newcastle's McDonald Jones Stadium and June 27 at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville. 

“In the past our top women’s rugby league players played with their Harvey Norman teams and then moved onto NRLW clubs,” NSWRL head of football Yvette Downey said.

“Aligning our competition with the NRLW will have a positive impact on our elite players by placing less demands on them.

“Also in the past girls graduating from our Under 19s Tarsha Gale Cup were finding it difficult to move forward into a Harvey Norman open team.”

Downey said around 60 per cent of NRLW players come from the NSW Women’s Premiership.

“To give our Under 17s and Under 19s players a chance to continue their NSWRL pathway all the way through and then get the opportunity to secure a NRLW contract, the change in the 2024 schedule has been made,” she said.

The NSWRL has always been a strong advocate for women’s rugby league, with competitions also scheduled in 2024 for the Tarsha Gale Cup (Under 19s), Lisa Fiaola Cup (Under 17s) and Women’s Country Championships (Open Age players from regional NSW).

The Lisa Fiaola Cup, which has been previously run as a gala day and has been promoted to competition status in 2024, will be split into metropolitan and regional competitions.

The Harvey Norman Tarsha Gale Cup for Under 19s will enter its eighth season of competition. All three competitions are scheduled to start in February.