The NRL is set to use the next three years to accelerate the growth of the women's competition as they map out a path to NRLW expansion.
The NRLW has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years, with the 2024 season expected to be the biggest yet on the back of record-breaking Women's State of Origin ratings.
The competition will kick off with a clash between Newcastle and the Roosters in the prime-time Thursday slot on Channel 9 and Fox Sports.
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said the match is an opportunity to connect with a new audience both within and outside rugby league.
"Engagement from fans is important for any professional sport," Abdo said at the launch of the new NRLW season on Tuesday. "Fans are the lifeblood of our sport. The more popular a sport is, the more we can engage with our fans and provide them more of what they want.
"From the '22 season to the '23 season there were more tackles, more points, more tries, more offloads and as a result of that fans are really responding positively. It's not just about viewership and ratings, it's also registrations at the grassroots level.
"We saw young girls here today looking up at their idols, saying 'that could be me playing in a professional sports league'. Registrations are up in double figures. That bodes well for any sport because that's the long-term lifeblood of our sport."
Match: Knights v Roosters
Round 1 -
home Team
Knights
5th Position
away Team
Roosters
6th Position
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
This year's NRLW competition will be a 10-team, nine-round season with the top four progressing to semi-finals before culminating in a decider on NRL Grand Final day.
The competition will expand to 12 teams next year, with the Warriors and Bulldogs added to the fold.
From there, a number of options are on the table, with the start of a new broadcast rights deal in 2028 looming as a pivotal point in the future direction of the competition.
While further expansion is under consideration, NRLW players have called for the season to be extended to 16 or 22 rounds before more teams are added.
"We probably need more rounds to start with," Roosters five-eighth said Tarryn Aiken. "We don't want to dilute the talent too much.
"We speak about it a fair bit as players. We want to go to either one and a half rounds or two rounds before we get more teams."
NRLW players to watch in 2024: Tarryn Aiken
Such a shift would likely see the NRLW become a fully professional competition with players able to dedicate their entire energy to the sporting ambitions.
The push for full-time contracts come amid a wider sporting landscape in which women's sport is booming and rapidly professionalising. The Matildas are one of Australia's most popular sporting teams and AFL and cricket are investing significant amounts of money into their women's programs.
NRLW players to watch in 2024: Kezie Apps
The players currently juggle work and football, with many required to take time off during the season.
While the players are not yet full-time, wages have risen significantly in recent years and the NRL has plans to grow salaries even more in the coming years.
Talking on Tuesday, Abdo said there is no firm timeline for a fully professional competition but reiterated his intention to make it happen in a sustainable manner.
It's hoped a windfall in the 2028 broadcast deal would enable the salary cap to grow, with Wests Tigers captain Kezie Apps confident the surge in popularity of the NRLW will trigger an increase in commercial returns.
"We all still train like full-time professional athletes," Apps said. "The respect I have for all the females who are playing in the NRLW is so high.
"They have to train at the highest level to make sure the product's good enough so we can get more funding coming in but they sacrifice so much for the game.
"We need to go full time to see the game go to that next level. Then we don't have to worry about work and juggling all the things that go on in our lives."
Discussions over the future of the women's season come as senior officials also explore expansion of the men's competition throughout the second half of this decade.
NRLW players to watch in 2024: Ellie Johnston
While NRL expansion bids won't have a women's team tied to their entry, Abdo said a commitment to growing both male and female participation and engagement will be considered when the Australian Rugby League Commission grants licences to new teams.
The CEO also revealed the growth of both the NRL and NRLW will provide a unique opportunity to have a detailed discussion about the optimal makeup of the two competitions and the ideal rugby league calendar.
"Expansion gives us more options," Abdo said. "As you think about expanding more teams you can think strategically around what the structure of the competition looks like. It's possible there may be fewer rounds going forward.
"For us it's about the quality of the competition and the quality of the whole season structure, the pre-season, the premiership, the finals series, State of Origin and the international game.
"How you balance all of that, how you get the right mix of quality content, the beauty of expansion is we will have options and we're planning now for something happening in '27 and '28.
"That means we can get organised and we can think about both the men's and women's competition. We can ask what is the right time of year, what is the right time of games and what is the right configuration?"
