If there’s anyone who knows the opportunities that can open up with the concurrent running of the statewide competitions and the NRLW, it’s Brisbane Tigers captain Kelsey Parkin.
With the Queensland Rugby League’s BMD Premiership now in its second year running at the same time as the NRLW competition, players in clubs across Queensland are gearing up for games to kick off this Saturday.
It is set to be another big season for defending champions the Tigers, who were undefeated on their run to the title last year, taking out the grand final 22-6.
For Parkin, last year was also the year that she made her unexpected NRLW debut, getting the call up to run out for the Gold Coast Titans in Round 10, answering their call after impressing during the opening games of the season.
“I think to progress the game, definitely you have to play alongside the NRLW and then it's an easier pathway from BMD to NRLW,” Parkin said.
“I think it was good last year and I think it's going to be even better this year because all the girls kind of know what to expect with the season being run so late in the year, I think it's a good thing that we're running alongside the NRLW.
“Going into last season, I wasn't really thinking about NRLW.
“I just thought I'm keen to rip in for Tigers at BMD.
“NRLW … I just thought that had gone past me, I'm getting older now, no-one's really going to be looking at me …
“But I just put my head down, worked really hard at Tigers, and then when Rhett (coach Rhett Tronc) came to me saying that Titans want to have a look at me, I was just like, ‘what? Okay!’
“That was a surprise, but I guess it just goes to show, no matter how long you've been playing, you can still have a chance.
“That’s another benefit to that in the alignment of the seasons, its giving the girls the opportunity, you just never know what could happen.”
The Tigers will field a new-look team this year with players like Namoe Gesa (Wests Tigers), Evelyn Roberts (Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs) and Enah Desic (Gold Coast Titans) taking part in NRLW pre-season training, progressing to the top level after their impressive 2025 seasons.
“They were all so good last year, did their job, they're hard workers," Parkin said.
“Evelyn and Namoe, Evy, she's a young gun, she won everything, but she's just a good kid, has a good heart, just works hard, she did so much and we, we, we really miss her.
“Namoe is a hard worker as well so hopefully she gets a run at Tigers.
“I miss Enah as well, she's with Titans, she's one to watch.”
For Sunshine Coast Falcons captain Annette Brander, while the timing still wasn’t perfect, with female players hoping to soon play longer seasons in line with male pathways, the competition structure made sense for now.
However, the former Jillaroo – who also played for Queensland and for Brisbane, St George Illawarra and the Titans in the NRLW – said there were some benefits to the later start to the season.
With the staging of junior representative games earlier in the season, it opened up the possibility for young pathways players who had been involved in Under 17 and Under 19 competitions to step up.
“We've had a lot of the 17s and 19s girls come into our system, so it was really good to get around them and see how much talent we have coming through,” Brander said.
“I think it's really good for the girls coming through because as you can see last year, so many opportunities were made through the BMD season and girls getting signed halfway through that to play for the NRLW.
“But at the same time, it's a long time between BMD seasons and a long time to wait …
“I guess when you think of the sense of like growing the game, I think we're still waiting for NRLW teams to come in, we're still waiting for a couple of BMD teams to come and so inevitably, the seasons are going to get longer.
“(But at the moment) it's going in a really good way.
“Even for us, we have got a lot of girls who got to train in the Broncos system whether they didn't get a contract or not, that's good to get them that exposure anyway.”
The Brisbane Tigers will launch this year’s BMD Premiership season on Saturday, hosting Norths Devils at Totally Workwear Stadium at 12.30pm.
The New South Wales Premiership will kick off next weekend, with the Sharks hosting the Rabbitohs at Ocean Protect Stadium 11am on Saturday, June 13.
Harvey Norman NSW Women's Premiership
