Maturing NRLW shows potential to shape international rugby league

Although it is only 131 days since the Sydney Roosters and St George-Illawarra Dragons contested the last NRLW grand final, a new season is about to kick off. With the 2021 season postponed to the start of this year due to the pandemic, NRLW players are backing up only four months after they finished last season to do it all again.

It may seem jarring, but for the players the short turnaround is a small price to pay for another season on the field and the increasing professionalism of the game. With the postponed Rugby League World Cup taking place in England just a few weeks after the end of this year’s second NRLW season, there is an extra layer of intrigue as the increased talent pool competes for Jillaroos places.

Although progress in the professionalisation of women’s sport has not yet resulted in equality between the men’s and women’s codes, Australia’s relatively early investment in women’s rugby league will be notable in the upcoming World Cup. The last tournament was held in 2017 – before the first season of the NRLW was played. The Jillaroos were dominant, going through undefeated, at a time when none of their players were competing in a professional domestic competition. After five seasons of the NRLW, their dominance could soon become devastating.

A similar pattern has been seen in cricket, where Australia made early investment in the professionalisation of domestic and international players. Coming into the eighth season of the Women’s Big Bash League, the Australian team’s dominance on the international stage is yet to be reeled in.

This is the trail that the NRLW is just beginning to blaze – one that creates an almost unbeatable legacy and forces other countries to take their women’s competitions seriously