Women's Rugby League World Cup set for closest fight yet as Australia meet Samoa first up
Australia begin their defence of the Women's Rugby League World Cup against Samoa on Friday, 16 October, opening an eight-team tournament in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
The women's competition starts a day after the overall World Cup window opens on 15 October, with the whole event running to 15 November Sky Sports. The Jillaroos, the nickname for Australia's women's team, enter as defending champions NRL.
They won the last final in 2022 by 54-4 against New Zealand. That gulf has closed.
Five teams return from 2022: Australia, New Zealand, England, Papua New Guinea and France. They are joined by Fiji and Wales, both at their first Women's Rugby League World Cup, and by Samoa, back for the first time since 2003 The Guardian.
England face a tough group. They play Wales, Samoa and Australia in the group stage Sky Sports.
In rugby league, the 13-a-side code, teams get six tackles to push upfield before they must hand over the ball. Field position and finishing sets matter. That is why the growth below international level is important.
Since the last World Cup, Australia's elite women's club competition, the NRLW, has grown from six teams playing five rounds to 12 teams playing 11 rounds. Women's State of Origin, the annual interstate series between New South Wales and Queensland, has grown to a three-match series drawing crowds of more than 20,000 and more than two million viewers per match on broadcast.
The effect is visible in the squads. Current NRLW players now appear across most teams, not only Australia.
Coach Jess Skinner's Jillaroos include eight players from the Sydney Roosters, the undefeated NRLW premiers in 2026, and 13 players from the NSW Sky Blues, who won this year's Origin series 3-0, a whitewash meaning they won every game.
New Zealand have named a full squad of NRLW players. It includes Canberra Raiders halfback Zahara Temara, the team's chief playmaker and a former Queensland Maroon, and Sydney Roosters prop Otesa Pule, a front-row carrier and premiership winner.
England lean on domestic strength with nine players from Wigan Warriors, alongside Sydney Roosters second-rower Jasmin Strange, a versatile forward who works on the edges and through the middle.
For fans, this means less guesswork and more contest. The favourites still wear gold, but the chasers arrive with full-time habits, shared club combinations and recent big-game minutes.
