NRL's bold plan for the future

Perth Now

8 hours ago

The NRL is planning for all clubs – including the incoming teams in Perth and PNG – to have sides in the NRL and NRLW in the coming years.
The women's competition has expanded to 12 teams this season, with the Warriors returning to the league alongside the Bulldogs who will play their first game against Newcastle on Friday night.
There are still five NRL clubs that don't have a team in the NRLW yet – the Storm, Panthers, Dolphins, Sea Eagles and Rabbitohs – but chief executive Andrew Abdo remains confident they will eventually join in the not-too-distant future.
'We're in dialogue with all the clubs that don't currently have a licence around a number of factors – their investment into pathways and grassroots football in their geographical regions, high-performance facilities, centres of excellence and their plans and strategy and stadium as well,' Abdo said at the season launch in Sydney. Player representatives from all 12 NRLW clubs. Rohan Kelly Credit: News Corp Australia
'How they're planning a strategy for growth and how that fits in with our overall plan.
'We're all aligned around the vision of ultimately having each team housing both a men's and women's team and we're in dialogue with each club on a bespoke strategy for that.'
Expansion isn't as simple as bringing in more teams given the game doesn't want to rush things and risk thinning the talent pool too quickly.
Record participation numbers mean growth will occur naturally, while there's clearly a thirst for more footy given the record TV ratings and crowd figures for this year's women's State of Origin series.
'It's a key strategic question and it's one that we're working on with everyone in the system – the clubs, the players association (and others),' Abdo said.
'The commission is really focused on growing the women's game, but that growth doesn't necessarily mean just more teams.
'It's making sure that we have an increase in talent, and it's also the type of competition that we run and the length of that competition.
'That's multiple factors, so it's not just the number of teams.'
Meanwhile, Abdo says he's not concerned by the Rugby League Players Association's stance on the ARL Commission's proposed new powers that allow them to now charge players for on-field offences.
An RLPA statement earlier this month said it had 'serious concerns' with the decision to amend the judiciary code that gives the ARLC 'absolute discretion and extraordinary powers' to charge players.
It has now reportedly filed a formal dispute on the grounds that it wasn't properly consulted about the mid-season change.
'They're entitled to say what they want to say,' Abdo said.
'They've made their representations both publicly and to us, so we'll consider those and meet with them to try to continue the dialogue in a positive and constructive manner.
'We're not concerned (because) we feel like we followed due process, but we'll sit down and talk through it.
'I think it's an insurance policy in rare circumstances where the commission might feel that the policy hasn't been properly applied.'