Australian Rugby League Commission postpone NRLW 2021

The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) has taken the decision to postpone the 2021 NRLW season until the early part of 2022 as a response to the growing COVID-19 issues in the country.

NRL chief executive officer, Andrew Abdo confirmed the decision saying:

“We explored all avenues, but it is simply not possible. When the men’s competition was relocated to Queensland there were 77 cases in NSW on that day, there’s now consistently over 1000 cases a day and restrictions around border closures are much tighter than they were in the middle of the year,’’ he said.

“We also acknowledge that nearly all our NRLW athletes are not full time athletes. They have careers off the field that limit the ability to be able to relocate for a long period of time and that’s something we also considered carefully."

However, the decision does create a unique opportunity for the women's game in 2022 as there will be TWO Premierships to conclude, state competitions, All-Stars game, State of Origin and, to round the year off, the Rugby League World Cup.