NRLW 2025 Draw: Twelve teams, eleven rounds and revamped finals
More teams, more games and a revamped finals structure; the 2025 NRLW draw is a gamechanger in terms of top flight women’s rugby league in Australia and New Zealand.
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The NRLW finals have been revamped with the competition’s best six teams to do battle for next year’s women’s premiership in a three-week playoff series.
The addition of Canterbury and re-entry of the Warriors into the NRLW has seen the draw expanded to 11 regular season rounds, with each of the 12 teams to play each other once in 2025.
Week one of the finals series will be do-or-die with two elimination showdowns, while the best two teams of the season getting the week off.
A stand-alone clash between Cronulla and Parramatta on will usher in the season at Sharks Stadium in the prime time slot of 7.45pm Thursday on July 3.
The Bulldogs will kick-off their first NRLW season against two-time premiers Newcastle in a double header with the men’s team at Accor Stadium on Friday, July 4.
The Warriors will be welcomed back into the fold after a four-year hiatus with a massive test against reigning premiers the Sydney Roosters on Sunday, July 6 at 11.50am – also in a double header at Accor Stadium.
This year’s draw will also feature seven morning clashes, the same as in 2024.
The Sunday morning clash was a point of contention in the scheduling of the women’s draw this year after players requested no games kick off before midday on Saturday and Sunday to allow junior players to attend NRLW matches.
But the request for more double headers with the men’s NRL draw has been delivered with the number of joint fixtures more than doubled in 2025.
A massive 33 games, up from 16 last year, across the 11-round NRLW season will be played either before or after a men’s fixture as a double header, in a bid to boost crowds and exposure.
Of the 33 double headers, 18 will feature the same clubs in both fixtures – including a Queensland Derby between the Broncos and Titans at CBus Super Stadium on Sunday, July 13.
The NRLW will take over Newcastle in the first week of August for the game’s inaugural Magic Round at McDonald Jones Stadium in Round 5.
The Sharks will have to wait until the entire season before getting a shot at avenging this year’s grand final loss to the Roosters. The sides will meet for the first time in the final round of the year.
The hugely popular State of Origin series – which expanded to three games last year – will again kick-off the men’s Magic Round at Suncorp Stadium.
“In 2025 there will be more teams, more matches and more innovation in the NRL Telstra women’s premiership,” NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said.
“The 12-team competition, now including the Bulldogs and the Warriors, will be the biggest in NRLW history. The addition of the NRLW Magic Round will be a unique opportunity for fans to see all the players and teams together in Newcastle in Round 5, and the extended finals series will add another dimension to the competition.
“We have some of the best female athletes on the planet and they’ll now be showcasing themselves in the best women’s competition in Australia and now New Zealand.
“The competition takes huge strides every year and I have no doubt that the eighth NRLW premiership will be the best yet.”
Originally published as NRLW 2025 Draw: Twelve teams, eleven rounds and revamped finals
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