NRL Women's Premiership
The NRL Women's Premiership also known as the Telstra NRL Women's Premiership due to sponsorship is a rugby league competition in Australasia for female players. The league is run by the National Rugby League (NRL) and is contested by a subset of clubs from that competition. Currently, the league contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand.
The current Premiers are the [Brisbane Brisbane Broncos Women|Broncos Women|Brisbane Broncos].
History
In 2016, the Cronulla Sharks and St. George Illawarra Dragons contested a Women's Nine's match, which served as a curtain-raiser to the NRL match between the Sharks and Sydney Roosters, at Southern Cross Group Stadium. The Sharks won the match 16–12.In March 2017, the Cronulla Sharks played another Women's Nine's match, this time defeating the Canberra Raiders by 28–10.
2017 – 2020: Establishment
On 6 December 2017, shortly after the conclusion of the 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup, which concluded with the Jillaroos defeating the New Zealand Ferns by 23–16 in the final, it was announced by the National Rugby League that the inaugural NRL Women's season would operate in a round-robin format, and be held in August 2018, towards the back end of the men's season, with some matches to be played as curtain-raisers to NRL finals matches. The Grand Final, would be contested between the top two teams at the end of the round robin stage, and be played on the same day as the men's Grand Final. It was also announced that a stand-alone State of Origin match would also be contested during the representative weekend, in June.The Newcastle Knights, St. George Illawarra Dragons, Brisbane Broncos, New Zealand Warriors, Sydney Roosters, South Sydney Rabbitohs and Cronulla Sharks all declared their interest in applying for a licence to participate in the inaugural NRL Women's competition. Other clubs, such as the Melbourne Storm, Manly Sea Eagles, Gold Coast Titans, North Queensland Cowboys, Canberra Raiders, Wests Tigers, Parramatta Eels, Penrith Panthers and Canterbury Bulldogs, all decided to delay bidding, citing money and time constraints.
On 27 March 2018, the National Rugby League announced that the Brisbane Broncos, New Zealand Warriors, St. George Illawarra Dragons and Sydney Roosters had won bids to participate in the inaugural NRL Women's competition, commencing in September 2018.
The Brisbane Broncos were the most dominant team in the opening three seasons winning all three minor premierships and all three premierships.
2021–present: Competition expansion
In June 2021 the NRL announced that the NRLW competition would commence expansion and increase to six teams. Initially this meant adding an additional two teams to the competition; however, the New Zealand Warriors announced that they were withdrawing from the competition due to difficulties of moving through borders during the COVID pandemic and an exodus of players and officials. This created an additional spot in the competition, with the NRL announcing that the Gold Coast Titans, Newcastle Knights and Parramatta Eels would be joining the competition for the 2021 season to keep numbers at six.In March 2022, the National Rugby League and Australian Rugby League Commission announced that NRLW competition would further expand over the course of the 2023 and 2024 seasons by adding two clubs in each season.
Clubs were invited to make submissions to join the league and were required to by April 2022, six were received. The clubs that made submissions for an NRLW licence in the expanded competition were: Canberra Raiders, Cronulla Sharks, North Queensland Cowboys, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Penrith Panthers and Wests Tigers. The New Zealand Warriors had previously indicated their desire to return a team to the NRLW competition, but they did not place a submission at this time.
In June 2022, the NRL changed their stance and decided to bring all expansion sides in together with the four teams all be admitted in the 2023 season and that those four clubs were Canberra, Cronulla, North Queensland and Wests Tigers.
Following the announcement both the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Penrith Panthers released statements congratulating the clubs that had been chosen and that they both would be interested in joining the competition in future seasons.
The 2023 NRLW season ran for 11 weeks with 9 rounds, Semi-finals and a Grand Final with the Newcastle Knights claiming their second premiership and the first of the expanded 10 team competition.
On 28 March 2024, the NRL announced that the competition would expand by two teams in the 2025 season, with the addition of Canterbury Bulldogs and the return of the New Zealand Warriors. The 2025 season commenced on the 3rd July with Parramatta defeating Cronulla.
Clubs
The NRLW currently consists of twelve clubs. Six clubs are based within the Greater Sydney area, another in regional New South Wales, three in Queensland, and one each in the Australian Capital Territory, and New Zealand. The league operates on a single group system, with no divisions or conferences and no relegation or promotion.Players
The club's playing lists were constructed from scratch through the later stages of 2018. All participants in the 2018 season were required to be over the age of 17.Initially, clubs were asked to nominate a list of desired players, with the NRL assigning two of these "marquee" players to each club. In addition, clubs were able to sign a number of players with existing connections to the club, or with arrangements for club sponsored work or study.
Salary
NRL Women's Premiership hands contracts to 40 elite women players.The top level salary in 2022 is $60,000. Representative Origin payments are $6,000 per game.
Season structure
Pre-season
Prior to the commencement of the NRLW home-and-away season teams use this time to organise trial matches to test playing combinations.Premiership season
The season operates using a Round-robin format, until 2024, the top four finishing teams contested two Semi-final matches, first versus fourth and second-place versus third with the winners meeting in a Grand Final which was typically held on the same day as the men's NRL Grand Final. From 2025 with the expansion to twelve teams, the format changed to a six team series over three weeks. Winners of 3rd place versus 6th place and 4th place versus 5th place in Week 1 meet 1st place and 2nd place in Week 2 semi-finals. Winners of the semi-finals meet in the Grand Final in Week 3.For the first three seasons 2018, 2019 and 2020 the draw was structured around the men's finals series and the top two of the then four teams contested the Grand Final. Due to measures in place to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia in September-October 2021, the 2021 NRLW season was postponed until February 2022, with the Grand Final held as a stand-alone match on Sunday, 10 April 2022. For the actual 2022 season, the NRLW Grand Final reverted to being held on the same day as the NRL men's Grand Final, which was Sunday, 2 October 2022. The two Grand Finals women's and men's were also held on the same day and venue in 2023, and 2024.
The rules and regulations are mostly the same as in the men's game, with a few exceptions:
- original matches were sixty minutes long, with thirty minutes in each half. 2022 season revised to seventy minute matches, consisting of thirty-five minutes per half.
- ten interchanges in each match, with an additional two during golden point; and
- a 40/30 kick advantage providing for tactical kicking and unpredictability during matches.
Postseason
In October 2018, NRL announced the inaugural edition of Rugby League World Cup 9s in Western Sydney on 18–19 October 2019, featuring 12 international men's teams and 4 women's teams. This would be around one month after the Women's Grand Final and preseason tournament Auckland Nines in previous years was replaced.Seasons
Awards
The following major individual awards and accolades are presented each season:- Best & Fairest Trophy – to the best and fairest player in the league, voted by the referees
- Leading Try Award – to the player who scores the most tries during the home-and-away season
- Rookie of the Year –
- Veronica White Medal –
- Karyn Murphy Medal – the best player on the ground in the NRL Women's Grand Final, not voted by a committee of media members
Middo's Top 5 Players of 2023
Rugby League's most respected historian and statician, David Middleton has picked his top five players for the 2023 NRLW season.| Player | Club |
| Tamika Upton | Newcastle Knights |
| Tarryn Aiken | [Sydney Sydney Roosters Women|Roosters Women|Sydney Roosters] |
| Shannon Mato | [Gold Coast Gold Coast Titans Women|Titans Women|Gold Coast Titans] |
| Teagan Berry | St George Illawarra Dragons |
| Mele Hufanga | Brisbane Broncos |
Middo's Top 5 Players of 2024
Rugby League's most respected historian and statician, David Middleton has picked his top five players for the 2024 NRLW season.| Player | Club |
| Tarryn Aiken | Sydney Roosters |
| Isabelle Kelly | Sydney Roosters |
| Olivia Kernick | Sydney Roosters |
| Tiana Penitani-Gray | Cronulla Sharks |
| Julia Robinson | Brisbane Broncos |
Middo's Top 5 Players of 2025
Rugby League's most respected historian and statician, David Middleton has picked his top five players for the 2025 NRLW season.| Player | Club |
| Abbi Church | [Parramatta Parramatta Eels Women|Eels Women|Parramatta Eels] |
| Olivia Kernick | Sydney Roosters |
| Julia Robinson | Brisbane Broncos |
| Jesse Southwell | Newcastle Knights |
| Tamika Upton | Brisbane Broncos |
Records
Most appearances
The following players have made 40 or more appearances in NRLW matches.Table last updated 6 October 2025.
| Player | Debut | Seasons | Matches | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
| 1 | 2018 | 8 | 56 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 13 | |
| 1 | 2018 | 8 | 56 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 13 | |
| 3 | 2018 | 8 | 55 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 13 | |
| 3 | 2018 | 8 | 55 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
| 5 | 2020 | 6 | 52 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 13 | |||
| 5 | 2018 | 8 | 52 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 10 | |
| 7 | 2020 | 6 | 51 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 13 | |||
| 7 | 2019 | 7 | 51 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 9 | 12 | ||
| 9 | 2018 | 8 | 50 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 9 | 11 | |
| 9 | 2019 | 7 | 50 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 13 | ||
| 11 | 2018 | 8 | 49 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 11 | |
| 12 | 2020 | 6 | 48 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 13 | |||
| 12 | 2019 | 7 | 48 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 9 | 12 | ||
| 12 | 2018 | 8 | 48 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 7 | |
| 12 | 2019 | 7 | 48 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 12 | ||
| 16 | 2021 | 5 | 47 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 12 | ||||
| 16 | 2021 | 5 | 47 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 13 | ||||
| 16 | 2018 | 8 | 47 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 11 | |
| 19 | 2018 | 7 | 46 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 9 | ||
| 19 | 2018 | 8 | 46 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 13 | |
| 19 | 2018 | 8 | 46 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 12 | |
| 19 | 2018 | 7 | 46 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 11 | ||
| 19 | 2019 | 6 | 46 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 13 | |||
| 19 | 2021 | 5 | 46 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 12 | ||||
| 25 | 2021 | 5 | 45 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 13 | ||||
| 25 | 2019 | 7 | 45 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | ||
| 25 | 2020 | 6 | 45 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 7 | 12 | |||
| 25 | 2018 | 8 | 45 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 8 | 8 | |
| 25 | 2019 | 7 | 45 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 7 | ||
| 25 | 2023 | 6 | 45 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 13 | |||
| 25 | 2019 | 7 | 45 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 7 | ||
| 32 | 2018 | 8 | 44 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 9 | |
| 33 | 2021 | 5 | 43 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 12 | ||||
| 34 | 2018 | 7 | 42 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 9 | 3 | ||
| 34 | 2021 | 5 | 42 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 12 | ||||
| 34 | 2021 | 5 | 42 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 13 | ||||
| 34 | 2020 | 6 | 42 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 13 | |||
| 38 | 2018 | 6 | 41 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 13 | |||
| 38 | 2021 | 5 | 41 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 11 | ||||
| 38 | 2020 | 6 | 41 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 9 | |||
| 41 | 2019 | 7 | 40 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 11 | ||
| 41 | 2022 | 4 | 40 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 13 | |||||
| 41 | 2018 | 8 | 40 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 11 | |
| 41 | 2019 | 7 | 40 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 6 | ||
| 41 | 2022 | 4 | 40 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 13 | |||||
| 41 | 2020 | 6 | 40 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 8 | |||
| 41 | 2018 | 7 | 40 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 7 |
Most Individual Points
The following players have scored 100 or more points in NRLW matches.Table last updated 6 October 2025.
| Player | Debut | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |||||||
| 1 | 2020 | 6 | 51 | 7 | 119 | 1 | 267 | 0 | 1t | 2t | 2t 32g | 1t 37g | 1t 50g 1fg | |||
| 2 | 2018 | 8 | 52 | 7 | 110 | 3 | 251 | 3g | 0 | 1t 9g | 10g 1fg | 1t 21g | 1t 21g 1fg | 2t 25g | 2t 21g 1fg | |
| 3 | 2022 | 4 | 40 | 7 | 102 | 0 | 232 | 2t 6g | 3t 33g | 22g | 2t 41g | |||||
| 4 | 2020 | 6 | 45 | 13 | 74 | 0 | 200 | 0 | 2t | 3t | 0 | 4t 24g | 4t 50g | |||
| 5 | 2019 | 7 | 45 | 6 | 85 | 2 | 196 | 4g | 1t 4g | 4g | 1t 15g | 1t 18g 1fg | 1t 18g 1fg | 2t 22g | ||
| 6 | 2019 | 7 | 50 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 184 | 1t | 5t | 1t | 5t | 7t | 7t | 20t | ||
| 7 | 2021 | 5 | 38 | 5 | 81 | 1 | 183 | 1t 12g | 8g 1fg | 12g | 1t 22g | 3t 27g | ||||
| 8 | 2022 | 4 | 37 | 3 | 83 | 0 | 178 | 1t 15g | 1t 25g | 22g | 1t 21g | |||||
| 9 | 2020 | 6 | 45 | 6 | 69 | 3 | 165 | 1t | 19g | 7g | 1t 11g 2fg | 3t 11g | 1t 21g 1fg | |||
| 10 | 2020 | 6 | 41 | 37 | 1 | 0 | 150 | 1t 1g | 4t | 5t | 11t | 8t | 8t | |||
| 11 | 2018 | 8 | 46 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 128 | 2t | 1t | 2t | 1t | 3t | 5t | 9t | 9t | |
| 12 | 2018 | 8 | 56 | 13 | 35 | 0 | 122 | 2t | 1t | 1t | 1t | 2t 3g | 5t 32g | 1t | 0 | |
| 13 | 2019 | 7 | 40 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 120 | 1t | 1t | 6t | 3t | 7t | 8t | 4t | ||
| 14 | 2023 | 3 | 32 | 25 | 7 | 0 | 114 | 7t 4g | 9t 3g | 9t | ||||||
| 15 | 2018 | 8 | 46 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 112 | 1t | 3t | 1t | 1t | 2t | 7t | 5t | 8t | |
| 16 | 2023 | 3 | 33 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 10t | 7t | 8t |
Most Capped Players
| Player | Club | Games |
| Brisbane Broncos | 56 | |
| & & & | [Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Women|Bulldogs Women|Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs] | 11 |
| & | Canberra Raiders | 29 |
| Cronulla Sharks | 33 | |
| Gold Coast Titans | 43 | |
| New Zealand Warriors | 16 | |
| & | Newcastle Knights | 41 |
| & | [North Queensland North Queensland Cowboys Women|Cowboys Women|North Queensland Cowboys] | 30 |
| Parramatta Eels | 37 | |
| St George Illawarra Dragons | 41 | |
| Sydney Roosters | 53 | |
| Wests Tigers | 27 |
Most tries scored
In a career
The following players have scored 15 or more tries in NRLW matches.Table last updated 6 October 2025.
| R | Player | M | T | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| 1 | Tamika Upton | 50 | 46 | — | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 20 |
| 2 | Teagan Berry | 41 | 37 | — | — | 1 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 8 |
| 3 | Julia Robinson | 46 | 32 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 9 |
| 4 | Madison Bartlett | 40 | 30 | — | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 4 |
| 5 | Jessica Sergis | 46 | 28 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 8 |
| =6 | Sheridan Gallagher | 32 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | 9 | 9 |
| =6 | Mele Hufanga | 33 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | 10 | 7 | 8 |
| 8 | Isabelle Kelly | 55 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 7 |
| 9 | Jayme Fressard | 37 | 23 | — | — | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| 10 | Jaime Chapman | 36 | 21 | — | — | 0 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 2 |
| =11 | Olivia Kernick | 47 | 20 | — | — | — | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| =11 | Georgia Ravics | 28 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 13 | Tarryn Aiken | 45 | 19 | — | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
| 14 | Tiana Penitani Gray | 48 | 18 | — | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 0 |
| =15 | Shenae Ciesiolka | 40 | 17 | — | — | 0 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| =15 | Emma Verran | 43 | 17 | — | — | — | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| =17 | Chelsea Lenarduzzi | 55 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| =17 | Jasmine Peters | 38 | 16 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| =19 | Emily Bass | 28 | 15 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| =19 | 48 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 3 | |||
| =19 | Payton Takimoana | 11 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 15 |
| =19 | Simaima Taufa | 49 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
Most Tries in a Match
| Player | Club | Tries | Times | Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | |
| Taleena Simon | Roosters | 4 | 4' 8' 10' 33' | 22 Sep 2018 | 3 | Dragons | Allianz Stadium | |
| Mele Hufanga | Broncos | 4 | 6' 27' 37' 40' | 5 Aug 2023 | 3 | Cowboys | Queensland Country Bank Stadium | |
| Teagan Berry | Dragons | 4 | 28' 42' 49' 66' | 26 Aug 2023 | 6 | Titans | Netsrata Jubilee Stadium | |
| Mele Hufanga | Broncos | 4 | 29' 34' 46' 62' | 12 Aug 2024 | 3 | Titans | Totally Workwear Stadium | |
| Emma Verran | Sharks | 4 | 12' 23' 32' 38' | 12 Jul 2025 | 2 | Raiders | GIO Stadium | |
| Broncos | 4 | 24' 44' 49' 65' | 31 Aug 2025 | 9 | Bulldogs | Totally Workwear Stadium |
Most Goals in a Match
| Player | Club | Goals | Times | Missed | Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | |
| Tayla Preston | Sharks | 8 | 2' 5' 11' 31' 34' 39' 55' 70' | 21' 64' | 17 Sep 2023 | 9 | Eels | GIO Stadium | |
| Georgia Hannaway | Sharks | 8 | 4' 13' 24' 28' 34' 41' 50' 67' | 40' 54' | 12 Jul 2025 | 2 | Raiders | GIO Stadium | |
| Zahara Temara | Raiders | 8 | 10' 15' 24' 28' 42' 55' 57' 60' | 2' 52' | 23 Aug 2025 | 8 | Bulldogs | Belmore Sports Ground |
Media coverage
Television
In its inaugural season all matches will be televised live by affiliate partners the Nine Network and Fox League.And NRLWRAP
Online
The official internet/mobile broadcast partner of the NRL is 9Now and Kayo Sports.Outside Australia, the inaugural season is available on WatchNRL.
Corporate relations
Sponsorship
Holden is the league's past and inaugural naming rights partner.Telstra is the league's naming rights partner.
All playing and training equipment as well as all licensed apparel and hats for the league's four clubs are manufactured by Nike.
Other league sponsors include Rebel Sport, Harvey Norman and Kellogg's.
The official ball supplier is Steeden.