# 2018 NRL Women's season

The 2018 NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) was the first season of professional women's rugby league in Australia.

## Teams

| Club | Season | Head coach | Captain(s) |
| Brisbane Broncos | 1st season | Paul Dyer | Ali Brigginshaw |
| New Zealand Warriors | 1st season | Luisa Avaiki | Laura Mariu |
| St. George Illawarra Dragons | 1st season | Daniel Lacey | Sam Bremner |
| Sydney Roosters | 1st season | Adam Hartigan | Simaima Taufa |

## Pre-season

Only two of the four sides, the Brisbane Broncos and New Zealand Warriors, took part in pre-season trial games. The Warriors played two fixtures against a combined Auckland side, while the Broncos played the Papua New Guinea Orchids as a curtain-raiser to the Brisbane Broncos-Manly Sea Eagles NRL fixture. The Sydney Roosters were due to play the North Sydney Bears but the game was cancelled due to player availability. They instead underwent an opposed session with the Roosters' under-20 Jersey Flegg Cup side.
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | Date and Time (Local) | Venue | Referees | Crowd |
| New Zealand Warriors | 32 – 4 | Auckland | 10 August 2018, 6:00pm | Mt Smart Stadium | Rochelle Tamarua | - |
| New Zealand Warriors | 22 – 16 | Auckland | 25 August 2018, 3:15pm | Mt Smart Stadium No. 2 | Rochelle Tamarua | - |
| Brisbane Broncos | 48 – 14 | Papua New Guinea Orchids | 2 September 2018, 1:30pm | Suncorp Stadium | - | 9,938 |

## Regular season

The inaugural season will operate under a round-robin format, with games played as curtain-raisers to the 2018 NRL Finals Series. The top two finishing teams will then contest the Grand Final, which is to be played before the men's Grand Final on 30 September.

### Round 1

| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | Date and Time (Local) | Venue | Referees | Crowd |
| Sydney Roosters | 4 – 10 | New Zealand Warriors | 8 September 2018, 3:05pm | ANZ Stadium | Jon Stone Joshua McGowan | 17,168 |
| Brisbane Broncos | 30 – 4 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 9 September 2018, 1:45pm | Suncorp Stadium | Matt Noyen Kasey Badger | 47,296 |
| Source: LeagueUnlimted.com NRL.com NZW-SR Highlights NZW-SR Replay BB-SGID Highlights BB-SGID Replay |||||||

### Round 2

| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | Date and Time (Local) | Venue | Referees | Crowd |
| Sydney Roosters | 4 – 14 | Brisbane Broncos | 14 September 2018, 5:15pm | Allianz Stadium | Peter Gough Joshua McGowan | 19,211 |
| St. George Illawarra Dragons | 22 – 10 | New Zealand Warriors | 15 September 2018, 5:10pm | ANZ Stadium | Matt Noyen Wyatt Raymond | 16,274 (48,188) |
| Source: LeagueUnlimited.com NRL.com SR-BB Highlights SR-BB Replay SGID-NZW Highlights SGID-NZW Replay |||||||

### Round 3

| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | Date and Time (Local) | Venue | Referees | Crowd |
| Brisbane Broncos | 32 – 10 | New Zealand Warriors | 21 September 2018, 5:15pm | AAMI Park | Peter Gough Jake Sutherland | 26,621 |
| Sydney Roosters | 26 – 0 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 22 September 2018, 5:10pm | Allianz Stadium | Jon Stone Kasey Badger | 15,577 (44,380) |
| Source: LeagueUnlimited.com NRL.com BB-NZW Highlights BB-NZW Replay SR-SGID Highlights SR-SGID Replay |||||||

## Ladder

2018 NRL Women's season :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Brisbane Broncos | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 18 | +58 | 6 |
| 2 | Sydney Roosters | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 34 | 24 | +10 | 2 |
| 3 | New Zealand Warriors | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 30 | 58 | −28 | 2 |
| 4 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 66 | −40 | 2 |

### Ladder progression

* Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top two.
* Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
* Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round.
| | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1 | Brisbane Broncos | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | Sydney Roosters | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | New Zealand Warriors | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 0 | 2 | 2 |

## Grand Final

* Sunday, 30 September 1:35pm
| Brisbane Broncos | 34 – 12 | Sydney Roosters |
| Tries: Kimiora Nati (5', 17', 45') 3 Heather Ballinger (13') 1 Ngatokotoru Arakua (24') 1 Lavinia Gould (28') 1 Goals: Chelsea Baker 5/6 (6', 15', 18', 25', 47') | 1st: 28 – 6 2nd: 6 – 6 Highlights Report | Tries: 1 (10') Tazmin Grey 1 (43') Lavina O'Mealey Goals: 2/3 Zahara Temara (4', 44') |
* ANZ Stadium Attendance: 16,214 (82,688)
* Karyn Murphy Medallist: Kimiora Nati (Brisbane) Referee: Jon Stone, Kasey Badger
| FB | 1 | Chelsea Baker |
| WG | 2 | Julia Robinson |
| CE | 3 | Meg Ward |
| CE | 4 | Amber Pilley |
| WG | 5 | Amelia Kuk |
| FE | 6 | Kimiora Nati |
| HB | 7 | Ali Brigginshaw (c) |
| PR | 8 | Heather Ballinger |
| HK | 9 | Brittany Breayley |
| PR | 15 | Chelsea Lenarduzzi |
| SR | 11 | Teuila Fotu-Moala |
| SR | 12 | Maitua Feterika |
| LK | 13 | Rona Peters |
| Substitutes: ||
| IC | 10 | Steph Hancock |
| IC | 14 | Lavinia Gould |
| IC | 16 | Mariah Storch |
| IC | 17 | Ngatokotoru Arakua |
| Coach: Paul Dyer ||
| FB | 1 | Karina Brown |
| WG | 2 | Brydie Parker |
| CE | 3 | Shontelle Stowers |
| CE | 4 | Isabelle Kelly |
| WG | 5 | Taleena Simon |
| FE | 6 | Lavina O'Mealey |
| HB | 7 | Zahara Temara |
| PR | 8 | Ruan Sims |
| HK | 9 | Nita Maynard |
| PR | 10 | Elianna Walton |
| SR | 11 | Tazmin Grey |
| SR | 12 | Vanessa Foliaki |
| LK | 13 | Simaima Taufa (c) |
| Substitutes: ||
| IC | 14 | Kylie Hilder |
| IC | 15 | Sarah Togatuki |
| IC | 16 | Victoria Latu |
| IC | 17 | Kandy Kennedy |
| Coach: Adam Hartigan ||