'Flow on effect': Why scrapping Women's tiers is a game changer for RLWC2026

International Rugby League Chair Troy Grant believes the removal of tiering for Women’s nations is set to have a similar impact at RLWC2026 to the eligibility changes that inspired Jason Taumalolo to lead a Pacific revolution in 2017.

The IRL Board unanimously agreed to scrap the tiering that prevented eligible women’s players who had represented Australia, New Zealand or England from playing for another of the other three nations even if they were born in that country.

The decision is set to ensure genuine competitiveness for the Women’s World Cup, with the Jillaroos unlikely to have things their own way after star prop Shannon Mato announced her decision to switch to the Kiwi Ferns and more players planning to follow suit.

Olivia Kernick, Kennedy Cherrington, Corban Baxter, Zahara Temara, Botille Vette-Welsh and Rima Butler are among the players now eligible for New Zealand, despite having played for the Jillaroos. 

Emerging Wests Tigers star Caitlin Turnbull, who played for the Australian Prime Minister’s XIII against Papua New Guinea last year, has also declared her ambition to play for England, where her father was born.

There are more than 20 NRLW players with English heritage and Roosters playmaker Jocelyn Kelleher, a member of last year’s victorious NSW Origin team, secondrower Jasmin Strange have previously expressed a desire to play for England.

“The growth of the women’s game since the 2017 World Cup in Australia has been absolutely enormous and we want to capitalise on the elite player pool that the NRLW has helped create,” Grant said.

“The NRLW is the best female contact sport’s competition in the world, and we want the best players able to play for their country of birth or heritage.”

The scrapping of tiering for Women’s nations is the biggest change to international eligibility rules since the IRL enabled players to switch between Tier 1 nation and Tier 2 nations without restriction before the 2017 World Cup.

Taumalolo switched from New Zealand to Tonga and he was joined by Andrew Fifita, who turned down a Kangaroos jersey to play for the Pacific nation, who beat the Kiwis and suffered an agonising semi-final loss to England.

The move by Taumalolo, Fifita and others inspired Samoa, with the likes of Stephen Crichton, Jarome Luai and Brian To’o committing to their heritage, to go one better by becoming the first Pacific nation to qualify for a World Cup final in England in 2022.

Payne Haas, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow have since pledged their allegiance to Samoa, while Valentine Holmes will line up for Cook Islands at RLWC2026 after 21 Tests for the Kangaroos.

“What Jason Taumalolo and other players did in 2017 changed international rugby league forever and the removal of the tiers will also have a massive impact on the women’s game,” Grant said.

“We are already seeing the impact of that decision with the announcements by Shannon Mato and Caitlin Turnbull. I am sure there will more players doing the same thing before the World Cup.

“Players are switching to New Zealand or England, and that will have a flow on effect, with other players from those teams likely to play for another nation if they are eligible.”

The removal of the tiering system for Women’s nations means players can now represent any nation for which they qualify through birth or if a parent or grandparent was born in that country. Players continue to be prohibited from representing more than one country in a calendar year.