NRLW Increases To 10 Teams In 2023

[Scubby]

8 minutes ago, Copa said:

Is it? I have tickets and am really looking forward to the match.

It might be inaccurate, but there doesn't look that much left on the NRL site 9 days out. Really encouraging. 

[Sports Prophet]

10 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

 

This is inextricably linked to @The Rocket`s reference to Abdo`s stress on RL being Tackle/Tag/Touch.

When NSWRL launched Blues Tag a few years back, they put virtually all the initial investment into the Cronulla-Sutherland junior league. There must have been especially high Touch and Oztag participation rates in the Shire, and this was converted into League Tag through the clubs.

De La Salle now have 19 League Tag teams across the grades, Como Jannali have 17, Gymea have 13. Several others with good numbers too. It`s a major area for female participation.

Nah, it’s all irrelevant apparently.

[Pulga]

On 16/06/2022 at 08:52, Sports Prophet said:

Maybe the most elite already, but there are not enough teams to entice the worlds best women of both codes, so the expansion does represent great opportunity.

What would your preference clubs have been? Remember there is significant value in using existing brands rather than new ones.

Which non Sydney clubs applications should have been accepted? Do you have any understanding about the history of the Cronulla Sharks Women’s programme leading up to now? If you did, I think you would be happy with that club’s inclusion.

The world's best of both codes are being enticed and most are already playing in the NRLW. 

Nth Qld and Canberra are both great.

New Zealand should have been back before anyone else was admitted. Melbourne would be great too. There is no need to stick to existing NRL teams. 

Hell, any more than 10 teams for the foreseeable future might not be a great idea.

 

[Pulga]

On 16/06/2022 at 20:58, The Rocket said:

I find your comment of NRLW being  "NRL Lite " incredibly ignorant and patronising, have you watched it ?

And also why shouldn`t girls who have supported a particular NRL club all their life not have the right to play for the female team of that club in a national competition.

You've missed the point. 

The women's game is good enough and potentially strong enough to be its own competition. 

What you're suggesting is they aim to be curtain raisers for the men's comp.

[Copa]

The Raiders are saying they will have strategies in place to get some NZers and brumbies (super-w) women into the team.

[gingerjon]

4 hours ago, Copa said:

The Raiders are saying they will have strategies in place to get some NZers and brumbies (super-w) women into the team.

TBH, I think all you need to do to entice anyone from Super W is offer to pay them *any money at all*.

[unapologetic pedant]

3 hours ago, gingerjon said:

TBH, I think all you need to do to entice anyone from Super W is offer to pay them *any money at all*.

Because of course people only play League for money.

Some of the 7s players who`ve switched in recent years have described the joy of returning to the game they played as juniors. Others new to the game have mentioned the superior "culture" of their junior League club. At elite level there`s the greater and burgeoning prestige of NRLW.

Maybe we might make more progress in the UK if it weren`t forever 1895. 

[gingerjon]

16 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Because of course people only play League for money.

Some of the 7s players who`ve switched in recent years have described the joy of returning to the game they played as juniors. Others new to the game have mentioned the superior "culture" of their junior League club. At elite level there`s the greater and burgeoning prestige of NRLW.

Maybe we might make more progress in the UK if it weren`t forever 1895. 

Oh give over.

[unapologetic pedant]

5 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Oh give over.

Tee-hee

[Copa]

A record women’s state of origin crowd in Canberra last night, 11,321.

NSW 20 v QLD 14.

It was a lot of fun.

[Dunbar]

13 hours ago, Copa said:

A record women’s state of origin crowd in Canberra last night, 11,321.

NSW 20 v QLD 14.

It was a lot of fun.

It was a very good game as well.

[Pulga]

On 25/06/2022 at 10:27, Copa said:

A record women’s state of origin crowd in Canberra last night, 11,321.

NSW 20 v QLD 14.

It was a lot of fun.

How good is it that less than 24 hours later the Kiwi Ferns v Tonga game broke the record for a women's test match with 18,369 spectators.

[The Rocket]

Great news for the Women`s game with the first three rounds of the NRLW to be aired on Channel 9 FTA in the prime time Sunday 6 p.m. timeslot.

NRLW draw 2022: Sunday night football and triple-header final round highlight season schedule (theaustralian.com.au)

It`s great to see they`re really giving this a chance to maximise its` audience.

 

[The Rocket]

Quality certainly hasn`t diminished:

Dragons dig deep to hold off Eels in NRLW thriller | Dragons

 

 

 

[BroncoFan]

Georgia Roche & Amy Hardcastle have both linked up with international management agencies recently so hopefully they can get an NRLW contract for next season.

[Dunbar]

I enjoyed the Titans Knights game this morning.  Too many errors to be classed as a quality game but Tamika Upton was a class apart while I really like the way Mille Doyle plays.

[unapologetic pedant]

8 hours ago, The Rocket said:

Quality certainly hasn`t diminished:

Dragons dig deep to hold off Eels in NRLW thriller | Dragons

Fairly meagre crowd at Suncorp yesterday for the standalone Broncos/Roosters game.

Meanwhile, in that other RL heartland State, North Sydney Oval looked packed for the women`s fumbling. Several contributory factors (first-ever Swans game, no AFL, probable free admission).

Nevertheless, have to hand it to Fumble fans. They treasure their game, however asinine, and will get off their ass to support its growth. Unlike the "fans" of their principle rival.

[The Rocket]

7 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Fairly meagre crowd at Suncorp yesterday for the standalone Broncos/Roosters game.

Meanwhile, in that other RL heartland State, North Sydney Oval looked packed for the women`s fumbling. Several contributory factors (first-ever Swans game, no AFL, probable free admission).

Nevertheless, have to hand it to Fumble fans. They treasure their game, however asinine, and will get off their ass to support its growth. Unlike the "fans" of their principle rival.

I expect being the first round played a large part in the solid crowd numbers of fumbleballw combined with a large element of wishful thinking that this year might be different. Once the grim reality sets in that what is being dished up on the field hasn`t improved, crowd and television viewing numbers will collapse accordingly.

From what I witnessed of the women`s fumbleball over the weekend it continues to be a bad advertisement for the game in general, highlighting the underlying comical almost farcical nature of the sport. Something that can be overlooked in the men`s game due to the superior athleticism of the participants, yet always patently obvious to those not brainwashed from birth.

 Despite the furious attempts to polish the sherrin by fumbleball house and their lackeys in the media I expect it will be only a couple of weeks before the truth will out. I dare say that fumbleball house would give up their first-born to be serving up something like the high quality entertainment that the NRLW is once again providing.

 

 

[RL Tragic]

On 15/06/2022 at 13:15, Sports Prophet said:

I think there is a great opportunity for the women’s game to make a name for itself as the most elite women’s rugby competition in the world.

Offering elite playing opportunities for the best female players the world over, including a player raid of the best RU talent, which would go a long way to rapidly expanding the nations to compete in the 2025 WRLWC.

Watch this space.

Can I ask is the WNRL supporting itself via its own funding Chanel’s or be a fair share of what it’s helps bring in to the game . Or is it being subsidised and promoted beyond its popularity and if so why . This is a reasonable question seeking reasonable answers.  

[Dunbar]

4 hours ago, RL Tragic said:

Can I ask is the WNRL supporting itself via its own funding Chanel’s or be a fair share of what it’s helps bring in to the game . Or is it being subsidised and promoted beyond its popularity and if so why . This is a reasonable question seeking reasonable answers.  

I don't know the specific numbers on this but here are my assumptions.

- at the moment, I would expect that the expansion of the NRLW is being subsidised by the commercial success of the NRL competition. 

- this would be a strategic decision by the NRL leadership to expolit the growing popularity and media coverage for women's sports (in particular sports that have been typically seen as 'men's' sports).  The NRLW will open up new revenue streams in the form of new customers (fans watching on TV and in the stands), media and sponsorship.   Time will tell if this is commercially successful and given the fact that the NRL and NRLW are intertwined commercially it may not be possible to see the exact numbers anyway. 

- the NRL will see tapping into a new demographic in the existing Rugby League territories as much easier than geographical expansion.  Although the two shouldn't be mutually exclusive.

- why? Businesses all over the world use existing and mature revenue streams to invest in new opportunities, products or markets.  From a business perspective some work some don't but this is no different.

[Damien]

2 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

I don't know the specific numbers on this but here are my assumptions.

- at the moment, I would expect that the expansion of the NRLW is being subsidised by the commercial success of the NRL competition. 

- this would be a strategic decision by the NRL leadership to expolit the growing popularity and media coverage for women's sports (in particular sports that have been typically seen as 'men's' sports).  The NRLW will open up new revenue streams in the form of new customers (fans watching on TV and in the stands), media and sponsorship.   Time will tell if this is commercially successful and given the fact that the NRL and NRLW are intertwined commercially it may not be possible to see the exact numbers anyway. 

- the NRL will see tapping into a new demographic in the existing Rugby League territories as much easier than geographical expansion.  Although the two shouldn't be mutually exclusive.

- why? Businesses all over the world use existing and mature revenue streams to invest in new opportunities, products or markets.  From a business perspective some work some don't but this is no different.

These are all great reasons for doing so too. I think it's a very prudent investment by the NRL which will reap benefits for both women's RL and RL generally.

[Copa]

8 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

I don't know the specific numbers on this but here are my assumptions.

- at the moment, I would expect that the expansion of the NRLW is being subsidised by the commercial success of the NRL competition. 

- this would be a strategic decision by the NRL leadership to expolit the growing popularity and media coverage for women's sports (in particular sports that have been typically seen as 'men's' sports).  The NRLW will open up new revenue streams in the form of new customers (fans watching on TV and in the stands), media and sponsorship.   Time will tell if this is commercially successful and given the fact that the NRL and NRLW are intertwined commercially it may not be possible to see the exact numbers anyway. 

- the NRL will see tapping into a new demographic in the existing Rugby League territories as much easier than geographical expansion.  Although the two shouldn't be mutually exclusive.

- why? Businesses all over the world use existing and mature revenue streams to invest in new opportunities, products or markets.  From a business perspective some work some don't but this is no different.

That’s correct… the NRL must speculate to accumulate.

The TV ratings are quite comparable to some male sporting competitions in other sports that get TV rights money.

Some of last season’s tv ratings even rivalled that of some NRL games.

There’s money to be made but they have to prove it first… and I think they’ll do that.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/nrlw-television-ratings-soar-in-bumper-2022-season-20220407-p5abp8.html

 

 

 

[UTK]

19 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

I don't know the specific numbers on this but here are my assumptions.

- at the moment, I would expect that the expansion of the NRLW is being subsidised by the commercial success of the NRL competition. 

- this would be a strategic decision by the NRL leadership to expolit the growing popularity and media coverage for women's sports (in particular sports that have been typically seen as 'men's' sports).  The NRLW will open up new revenue streams in the form of new customers (fans watching on TV and in the stands), media and sponsorship.   Time will tell if this is commercially successful and given the fact that the NRL and NRLW are intertwined commercially it may not be possible to see the exact numbers anyway. 

- the NRL will see tapping into a new demographic in the existing Rugby League territories as much easier than geographical expansion.  Although the two shouldn't be mutually exclusive.

- why? Businesses all over the world use existing and mature revenue streams to invest in new opportunities, products or markets.  From a business perspective some work some don't but this is no different.

Women's RL is also by far the biggest growth area for participation in the sport in Australia, as such one dollar invested in the NRLW or associated womens RL pathways provides a return at the grassroots level that is simply incomparable to a dollar being invested in any other demographic/area of the game in Australia. 

[RL Tragic]

1 hour ago, Dunbar said:

I don't know the specific numbers on this but here are my assumptions.

- at the moment, I would expect that the expansion of the NRLW is being subsidised by the commercial success of the NRL competition. 

- this would be a strategic decision by the NRL leadership to expolit the growing popularity and media coverage for women's sports (in particular sports that have been typically seen as 'men's' sports).  The NRLW will open up new revenue streams in the form of new customers (fans watching on TV and in the stands), media and sponsorship.   Time will tell if this is commercially successful and given the fact that the NRL and NRLW are intertwined commercially it may not be possible to see the exact numbers anyway. 

- the NRL will see tapping into a new demographic in the existing Rugby League territories as much easier than geographical expansion.  Although the two shouldn't be mutually exclusive.

- why? Businesses all over the world use existing and mature revenue streams to invest in new opportunities, products or markets.  From a business perspective some work some don't but this is no different.

Brilliantly put forward and informative comment . My only thought on that would be is the surplus in the NRL or to that point RFL such that the investment it is making is not being detrimental to its core product. I can totally understand say in football this is definitely not an issue , and for the NRL it may be a drop in the Ocean , I don’t know the answer but just posing the question. 

[The Rocket]

Sea Eagles to enter female team in 2023 NSWRL Tarsha Gale Cup | Sea Eagles

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles will enter a team in the 2023 NSWRL Tarsha Gale Cup, the Under 19 female junior representative competition, for the first time in the Club’s history.

Entry into the NSWRL competition will be the first step in the creation of a complete Sea Eagles female pathway with the intention to apply for a NRLW licence for the 2025 season.

"The Sea Eagles Centre of Excellence was, in part, designed, to support female rugby league with our facility able to cater for both men’s and women’s teams,’’ said Manly CEO Tony Mestrov.

“Central to our strategy is to establish a sustainable pipeline of talented local juniors that can support a future Manly Warringah Sea Eagles NRLW team."

Manly Warringah with their North Shore ` silvertail ` image has always been one of the few NRL teams that cuts across all socio-economic barriers. Having a women`s team coming out of that area is a crucial piece in further broadening the appeal, marketability and acceptability of women`s Rugby League.

Edited August 29, 2022 by The Rocket