Women’s rugby league is going from strength to strength. This is the next step
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo has hailed an inaugural NRLW Magic Round as the latest step towards an expanded women’s competition and full-time professionalism for elite players.
The governing body and NSW government on Tuesday announced a three-year partnership to stage a full round of NRLW fixtures in regional NSW, starting at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium in 2025.
The NRL Magic Round has been a genuine success story of Abdo’s tenure, selling out Suncorp Stadium in 2024 and generating predictions of a $120 million tourism windfall for Queensland over the next three years.
Abdo pointed to last year’s record 25,782-strong crowd for last year’s women’s Origin fixture in Newcastle– despite pouring rain and freezing conditions – as evidence of the potential for capacity attendances for the first …