NRLW expansion: Canterbury Bulldogs, Warriors to join 12-team competition

NRLW players will get to join the Las Vegas party in 2025 while two new teams will join the competition next year also. Full details.

The Warriors are returning to the NRLW. Pic: NRL Photos

Talks are underway to bring a women’s rugby league game to Las Vegas next year as part of an exciting push for global expansion.

At a historic announcement at Rugby League headquarters on Thursday, the Canterbury and the Warriors were granted NRLW licenses from 2025, pushing the competition from 10 teams to 12 for the eighth season.

It follows the NRL’s drive to find new audiences in a game-wide commitment to growth.

And getting female talent in front of US fans is next.

“That would be a natural progression,” NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said.

“You’ve seen the attitude of the commission and our mandate is to continue to grow, to showcase what we believe are phenomenal competitions, phenomenal athletes and unbelievable competent and community driven clubs and showcase them to the world.

“We wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we weren’t plotting and planning how to showcase our female athletes and NRLW talent on the global stage.”

The addition of the Bulldogs brings a sixth NRLW team into Sydney, and the third into the western Sydney region, while the Warriors are rejoining the competition after Covid pressures forced them to withdraw in 2021 after three seasons.

It leaves five clubs, Melbourne, South Sydney, Dolphins, Manly and Penrith without NRLW teams from next year onwards, with no firm plans to expand again in 2026.

The Canterbury Bulldogs will join the NRLW from 2025.

However, the commission is hell bent growth and an eventual goal of a women’s team for every NRL club.

“We have a program and a strategy with all of our clubs, so over the next couple of years we’ll continue to see expansion and opportunities for those clubs to enter the competition at a time that’s right for them and their community,” Abdo said.

The Rabbitohs have been vocal about their interest in joining the NRLW since the first season in 2018, and on Thursday congratulated the Warriors and Bulldogs on admission while confirming they will continue trying.

Abdo said there is a set of enablers that need to be met to be granted a license, starting with grassroots programs and participation, pathways programs and finally, facilities and staff at the elite level.

“The commission is focused on growth, but it needs to be sustainable growth, and we have a pretty good indication on what needs to happen in each of those clubs and in each of those communities,” he said.

Two more teams means the draw itself will be longer again in 2025, increasing from a nine-week season this year.

However, there are longstanding calls from players to lengthen the draw to play every team twice, as well as ongoing debates about the correct timing of the season which now finishes in line with the NRL grand final in October.

“[Timing of the season] is still a work in progress,” Abdo said.

“Certainly we’ve seen the benefit and the success of both the competitions running through midwinter through to the grand final, but we’re constantly looking at ways we can maximise the opportunity for our fans and the athletes to promote the sport and think about the calendar in a strategic sense.

“There isn’t a plan to move that, but that’s not to say it won’t move.”

Originally published as NRLW expansion: Canterbury Bulldogs, Warriors to join 12-team competition