Broncos win spot in NRL women’s competition

THE Broncos are set to be among five clubs granted a licence by the NRL for the inaugural women’s competition later this year.

THE Broncos are set to be granted a licence by the NRL for the upcoming women’s competition.

A Game of 2 Halves understands Brisbane will be given one of the spots for the inaugural season, with the club set to meet the NRL again this week.

While the Broncos are yet to receive official confirmation, they will be given a licence after a successful bidding process.

It is understood it could be a five-team competition but the NRL are yet to decide after six NRL clubs put forward bids.

Along with the Broncos, the Roosters, Dragons, Sharks, Rabbitohs and Warriors expressed interest for a licence.

Brisbane had one of the strongest bids and their campaign was also buoyed by the fact the NRL wanted a geographical spread.

Queensland captain Karina Brown could join the Broncos’ inaugural women’s team. Picture: Mark Cranitch

With the Cowboys and Titans both ruling themselves out of the 2018 competition — but expressing interest for future expansion — the Broncos have been favourites from the start to be included in the competition.

They have already put a lot of work into how their team would look, naming the club’s game development manager Paul Dyer as the coach and using last month’s Commonwealth Championships to scope out talent.

It is understood the Broncos are already interested in World Cup stars Ali Brigginshaw and Teuila Fotu-Moala, while Jillaroos coach Brad Donald endorsed Queensland skipper Karina Brown to be Brisbane’s first captain.

The NRL are expected to make their announcement on the women’s competition by the end of the month, with other details such as the date of the State of Origin clash also yet to be confirmed by the governing body.

CLUB PROGRAM OUT-RATES THE FOOTY SHOW

IT’S been a tough start for the NRL version of Channel 9’s The Footy Show this year, with the new-look program copping a lot of criticism.

And in a fresh hit for the show, it is being out-rated by the Broncos’ own TV program.

While both shows air on Channel 9, Brisbane produce Broncos Insider themselves and have found their ratings to be a massive win, particularly given it is not shown in prime time like The Footy Show.

Broncos Insider hosts Sam Squiers and Sam Thaiday. Picture: AAP/Ric Frearson

In southeast Queensland, The Footy Show had an average audience of 70,000 on Thursday night, while Broncos Insider had an average audience of 73,000 for a Sunday afternoon.

The show, hosted by Sam Thaiday and Sam Squiers, comes on after Sunday afternoon football and the timeslot is proving to be a big winner for the Broncos.

STATE LEAGUE GETS UNDERWAY

THE women’s state rugby league competitions kicked off last weekend in what is the most important year yet for the female players.

While the competition has gone under-the-radar in recent years, it will be an important part of shaping the inaugural NRL competition later this season, with players to be selected from the teams across the state.

And Easts Tigers, who yesterday opened their season against reigning premiers Burleigh, are one club doing all they can to promote their players.

Easts CEO Brian Torpy said that not only will more women’s games be streamed live on TigerTV.net this year, but the club are also looking to establish a girls academy.

They already have an academy for junior boys and will be looking to do the same for girls over the next 12 months.

AFLW CEO and former Olympian Nicole Livingstone. Picture- Nicole Cleary

LIVINGSTONE GOES BEYOND THE CALL

NICOLE Livingstone may hold the prestigious title as the AFLW CEO but the former Olympic swimmer certainly does not act as high and mighty as her status may allow her.

Livingstone attended last week’s AFLW clash between the Brisbane Lions and Collingwood and not only did Livingstone take the chance to soak up the atmosphere, but she also went around collecting rubbish from journalists, photographers, Lions staff and statisticians after the first quarter.

It is not something you’d expect to see many CEOs doing.