A NEW structure aimed at producing more competitive Women’s Super League fixtures has been introduced for this season.
For the past four campaigns, each club has played every other side home and away before a play-off series to determine the champions.
But a mid-season split will be reintroduced this year, with the top and bottom halves of the eight-team competition separating after sides have played each other once.
The League Leaders’ Shield will be awarded to the team that sits in first place after the additional fixtures between each of the top four.
In a further change, the Shield winners will progress straight to the Grand Final, to be played on Sunday, September 27.
The teams who finish second and third will play a semi-final on the weekend of September 19-20.
The bottom four, meanwhile, will battle to avoid placing last and facing a promotion/relegation play-off with the winners of the second-tier Championship.
Thomas Brindle, general manager of the WSL, said the changes were “designed to elevate performance, intensify competition, and unlock the next phase of commercial growth.”
He added: “Built around the principle of turning the dial up on competitive games throughout the season, the refreshed competition structure ensures that every game matters, momentum builds across the season, and the biggest moments in women’s rugby league are showcased when attention is at its peak.”
The goal of more competitive fixtures comes ahead of an autumn World Cup in Australia, in which England will need to improve significantly from the nadir of last March’s 90-4 Las Vegas thrashing to the Jillaroos in order to challenge.
Fixtures for the first phase of the season have been released, with Wigan Warriors’ title defence starting against Leeds Rhinos at their new Edge Hall Road Community Stadium base on Saturday, May 16 – the weekend after the Women’s Challenge Cup semi-finals.
York Valkyrie host Huddersfield Giants and newly-promoted Featherstone Rovers travel to Leigh Leopards the same day, before last year’s runners-up St Helens begin at Barrow Raiders on Sunday, May 17.
The league will split after the seventh round of fixtures, on the weekend of July 11-12.