NRLW in consolidation period but expansion not off the cards in 2026

2 months ago 33

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo has emphasised the need for “sustainable growth” in the women’s game as the newly expanded NRLW competition starts this week.

The entrance of the Bulldogs and Warriors in 2025 has taken the total number of teams in the competition to 12, but while the Abdo said it was crucial to consolidate the current pool of players, he didn’t rule out expansion in 2026.

All 12 NRLW captains were present at the season launch on Monday.

“I think it’s important to make sure that you’re investing in grassroots and in talent development, and you’re opening up age group competitions so that everyone can play the game, and then you’re thinking about how you can harness talent from multiple ways,” Abdo said.

“New markets are really important for us. I’ve spoken about New Zealand, but ultimately thinking about how we can lure talent from other markets is also to the front of mind, but ultimately, it’s making sure that our core nurseries are producing talent, and as long as that continues to grow we’ll be in a situation where eventually all the clubs will have both a men’s and women’s team.”

Channel Nine’s Danika Mason and Cronulla captain Tiana Penitani Gray at the season launch.

The NRLW’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) allows the NRL to expand to a maximum of 12 teams in the current cycle (2023-2027), however Abdo said the NRL could re-negotiate those terms with the players if they saw room for growth.

“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 NRL doesn’t have a set timeline on when and how it plans to grow the NRLW, but Abdo said clubs and players were involved in discussions about how expansion would work.

“It’s a key strategic question. It’s one we’re working on together with everyone in the systems, so, the clubs, the player’s association – the Commission is really focused on growing the women’s game, but that game doesn’t necessarily mean just more teams,” Abdo said.

“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.”

Rather than asking club’s for an expression of interest, which is what the governing body has done in the past, Abdo said the NRL were creating a “bespoke” strategy for each club.

“We’re in dialogue with all the clubs that don’t currently have a license around a number of factors – they’re investment into pathways across grassroots football in their geographical areas, high-performance facilities, centres of excellence and their plans and their strategies and stadiums as well,” Abdo said.

“We’re all aligned around having that vision of ultimately having each team housing both a mens and women’s team, and we’re in dialogue with each club on a bespoke strategy for that.”