The Queensland Rugby League is pleased to outline its plans to strengthen female pathways for aspirational participants throughout the state.

On the back of a rise in participation numbers and other significant developments for women’s rugby league, clubs have been invited to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to participate in a new open-aged female competition in 2020.

Importantly, it has the backing of the Australian Rugby League Commission, which has approved a funding request from the QRL to get the competition up and running next year.

Under the newly-proposed format, the competition will be administered by the QRL Statewide Competitions team.

“This is an exciting time for rugby league in Queensland and we now look forward to the formation of a strong and viable women’s state league thanks to the support of the ARLC,” QRL managing director Robert Moore said today.

“We have spent the last month meeting with potential clubs and the interest is strong.

“The model we are working towards is a maximum eight-team league with a presence in all three QRL Regions – South East, Central and Northern.”

The competition will commence at the same time as all other statewide leagues, including the Intrust Super Cup.

It will be played over a period of between seven and 10 weeks and will include a finals series that is scheduled to conclude two weeks prior to the Holden Women’s State of Origin match, providing a key period for players to press their case for state selection.

The 2020 representative fixture will be played on Queensland soil for the first time, with Sunshine Coast Stadium recently confirmed as the venue for the highly-anticipated clash between the Harvey Norman Queensland Maroons and New South Wales.

The opportunity to watch the game’s leading females in action is set to inspire the next wave of Queensland players, who are already benefiting from a host of QRL programs.

This year alone, the QRL secured $400,000 in funding from the ARLC to drive women’s and girls’ competitions and programs throughout the state, with funding allocated to the following: