The 2025 NRLW season is about to begin. Here's your preview

The NRLW Season is set to begin tomorrow. The season-opener will see the Cronulla Sharks host the Parramatta Eels at Sharks Stadium in Sydney.

2025 Season

The NRLW competition has seen rapid growth, with the competition doubling from six teams in 2022 to 12 teams this year. This season will see two new additions in the New Zealand Warriors and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. The Warriors are returning to the competition after a four-year hiatus, while the Bulldogs are making their NRLW debut.

Both clubs have done an impressive job of recruiting in the lead-up to this season. The Warriors are being bolstered by Kiwi rugby union talent such as Michaela Brake, a two-time world rugby sevens player of the year and Olympic champion. The Bulldogs will be led by former Cronulla Sharks halfback Tayla Preston.

The 2025 season will see 22 players join the competition from a rugby union background.

Favourites

The Sydney Roosters were the best team in the competition last year, beating the Sharks 32-28 in a close grand final to win the club’s second premiership. Both the Roosters and Sharks are expected to be title contenders again this season.

The Brisbane Broncos, who have won more titles than any team in the competition (3), are also fielding a strong lineup, which now includes Jillaroos fullback Tamika Upton, who has transferred from the Newcastle Knights.

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Format

The season format will feature 11 regular-season rounds, allowing each team to play each other once. At the end of the regular season, a three-week finals series will see the top six teams in the competition battle it out for the 2025 NRLW premiership.

Growth of the women’s game

Women’s rugby league is on the rise in Australia as more professional opportunities become available and the NRLW grows its television and media presence. According to the NRL, Australian rugby league “is on track to pass 50,000 female participants for the first time”.

At the season launch on Monday, NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said: “Growth has to happen at multiple levels. As we see expansion at the elite level it's a chain reaction with more and more people seeing what's possible and signing up to play the game.”