Brisbane Broncos legend Scott Prince has lauded the new NRL Touch Premiership as a landmark development in the history of the hugely-popular sport.

The Broncos are one of six teams included in the inaugural series which will commence this year, with elite touch football teams aligned with NRL clubs playing touch football games as curtain-raisers to NRL games.

Parramatta Eels, Wests Tigers, Newcastle Knights, Gold Coast Titans and North Queensland Cowboys will also take part. Each club will have two teams – a women's team and a men's team – playing in the tournament, equalling 12 NRL Touch teams in total.

A 30-minute men's game and a 30-minute women's game will be played prior to the main rugby league event, tapping off from the NRL's Round 11 on Friday 18th May 2018. The touch games will be broadcast nationally, as a mix of live and delayed broadcasts.

Prince, a national representative in touch football since retiring from a stellar rugby league career that included 300 NRL games plus playing for the Maroons and Kangaroos, said the NRL Touch Premiership would help give the nation's elite "touchies" the exposure and recognition they deserved.

"Touch footy is a great game to play no matter what level you are at – from social on a week night right up to the elite representative teams," said Prince.

"The new competition will give some fantastic athletes a chance to showcase their skills in front of big audiences, who I'm sure are going to love what they see.

"It's a really fast and spectacular game, and I can't wait to see a whole lot more people getting to see it played by the nation's best men and women."

Touch Football Australia CEO Steve Mitchell is excited about having a Broncos team in the mix.

"We already have an elite touch Brisbane Broncos club in our Elite 8 touch football series, and they're one of the strongest teams in the women's competition – they've made it to the Grand Final in 2018 and 2017, and took out the title in 2016.

"We're looking forward to having our Broncos, male and female, showcase their extraordinary speed, agility and ball skills ahead of the NRL Broncos vs Raiders main event at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday 30th June."

The inaugural Premiership will consist of six rounds plus a final. Queensland teams and NSW teams will compete against each other in separate pools, with the winners from each pool progressing to the Premiership Final.