When the NRLW began in 2018, it was with a tiny spark. Starting even smaller than the AFLW, only four teams of the then 16 NRL clubs were granted licences and the competition was held over four weeks, as double headers with the men’s games during the finals series.
It has taken some time for that tiny spark to catch fire. This season – with 10 teams, nine rounds of competition and two weeks of finals – the NRLW was able to take up the space required to make people take notice. In previous seasons, it often felt like a case of blink and you’ll miss it, with the women appearing and disappearing from television screens just as new fans were getting into the habit of watching them.
