The NRLW will break new ground in 2022, kicking off its postponed season with back-to-back rounds of standalone triple headers.
The competition’s 2021 season had to be deferred due to the COVID-19 outbreak that crippled NSW and forced Queensland to implement strict protocols around anyone entering the state.
It means the NRLW season will kick off with Round 1 on Sunday February 27, and feature three games all at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium on the same day.
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Round 2 will be another triple header, at WIN Stadium on Sunday March 6.
Rounds 3, 4, and 5 will coincide with the start of the NRL season. The NRLW will then play a week of semi-finals and then the grand final the following week.
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“It’s been proven there’s a real appetite for women’s sport and I think it’s so exciting Channel Nine is really taking on women’s sport, and programming so much of it,” rugby league great Ruan Sims told Wide World of Sports.
“The first two rounds being standalone triple-headers, because there’s no NRL games on, is fantastic. I think we’re going to see a huge turnout to these games, and especially because we see three new teams.
“It’s good to see it in a different timeslot in the year. When it started it was fantastic to have it at the back end of the men’s season… now I think this is a good way to start the year.
“Not only will they start the year, but they’ll finish it (too). So the women’s competition is really going to bookend the NRL, it’s wonderful.”
The Titans, Knights, and Eels have joined the league to make it a six-team competition.
The Broncos have dominated the NRLW, winning all three titles played for to date.
Sims, though, believes the competition will be much harder to tip this time around.
“I actually really like the way the talent’s been dispersed this year,” she said.
“We’ve seen a lot of players move to different sides… Jess Sergis is going to be playing for the Roosters. It’s really exciting.
“We’re going to see the best of the best running around. Game one, with Dragons v Titans, we’re going to see Emma Tonegato back playing rugby league. She started her career playing for Australia, for the Jillaroos. She went and killed it in Rugby Sevens and to see her come back to rugby league is an excellent win for the Dragons.”
The NRLW will also have a second full season in 2022, to be played later in the year.
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