Newcastle Knights and underdogs Gold Coast Titans take centre stage on Sunday as a new era in women’s game is ushered in
– a record crowd for a standalone NRLW match. The Knights will now play in the grand final for the second consecutive year, after winning their first premiership in 2022 in just their second year in the competition.
The Gold Coast Titans did not have the advantage of a home crowd in their semi-final, but that proved no barrier in running over the top of the Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium and becoming the first Titans team – men’s or women’s – to qualify for a grand final. It has been a huge turnaround in form for the 2022 wooden spooners, with the competition’s sole female head coach in Karyn Murphy showing what she has to offer with a second season in charge of the team.
It is now down to these two teams as they take centre stage at Sunday’s grand final and showcase women’s rugby league and the journey it has been on in just six short seasons.It is notable that both grand finalists entered the competition as part of the initial expansion to six teams, and have edged out the foundation clubs to usher in a new era of the NRLW.
With that will come further improvement of the competition, although this season has already demonstrated progress in some key areas. Average run metres a game for each team have increased from 1,404m in 2022 to 1,434m in 2023. Each team is scoring an average of 20.27 points per game, up from 18.45 in 2022. And despite more teams entering the competition, errors have decreased – with teams averaging 8.83 each game in 2023 compared to 9.6 in 2022.
The final frontier – as is the case for many women’s sports – is a full home-and-away season, with all the included luxuries that come with that, such as the opportunity to build into the season, develop rivalries and make home grounds into fortresses. The Knights showed the ability to connect with a passionate fan base and crowds rose along with the fortunes of both their men’s and women’s teams across this season.
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