1,000 signatures reached
To: New South Wales Rugby League
Save the Western Women’s League Spring Competition (WWRL)
We call on NSW Rugby League to reverse the decision to discontinue the Western Women’s Rugby League (WWRL) competition from 2027.
The removal of the WWRL will reduce playing opportunities for women and girls across Western NSW and risks weakening participation in the very competitions NSWRL is seeking to grow.
The WWRL serves a distinct and important purpose. It brings players together across a large regional footprint, creating viable teams and meaningful competition where individual towns may not yet have the numbers to sustain strong women’s and girls’ competitions on their own.
Removing that structure does not create more players. It removes an existing reason to play.
If the long term objective is to grow participation in competitions such as the Peter McDonald Premiership Women’s competition (PMPW), the WWRL should be part of that strategy. The two competitions do not need to compete for relevance. They can work together for the benefit of the game. The WWRL can assist with attracting and retaining players while they build experience and confidence, and produce an increased pool of women and girls available to participate competitions such as the PMPW.
That is especially important in regional communities, where participation depends on both visibility and opportunity.
Girls are more likely to see a place for themselves in rugby league when they can see women and older girls playing it. Representation is not symbolic; it influences whether young players view the game as something they can belong to. That visibility and access directly support the objectives of the NSWRL Women in League Strategy, which seeks to grow participation, strengthen pathways and increase opportunities for women and girls across the game
Removing the WWRL reduces that visibility at the same time the women’s game is seeking to grow.
Western NSW does not need fewer opportunities for women and girls to play rugby league. It needs a model that promotes a united approach that grows the player base and gives regional participants more reasons to enter and remain in the game.
We ask NSWRL to retain the WWRL beyond 2026 and work with clubs, players and communities across Western NSW to develop a sustainable model that allows the WWRL and local competitions to strengthen and support each other.
Do not remove an established competition before a viable alternative exists. Use the WWRL to grow the game, not shrink the opportunity.
Why is this important?
For girls and women in Western NSW, playing rugby league is not always as simple as joining a team in the next suburb. Distance and smaller populations mean communities do not always have the numbers to create strong, sustainable competitions on their own.
The WWRL gives those players another opportunity to take the field, compete, develop and stay connected to the game.
It also gives younger girls something just as important: someone to look up to.
A young girl watching women and older girls from her region pull on a jersey can picture herself doing the same. She can see that there is a place for her in rugby league and something to keep playing towards.
If they can see it, they can be it.
Every player retained, every new girl who decides to give rugby league a go, and every woman who stays involved helps build the future of the game in Western NSW.
That is why losing the WWRL matters. It is not simply the loss of a competition. It is the loss of opportunity, visibility and another way for women and girls to belong in rugby league.