THE tournament is set to expand in 2022 with the introduction of a Women’s Oceania Cup, featuring the likes of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands and Fiji.
Women’s rugby league is growing at a rapid rate and 17 countries have applied to play in an Emerging Nations World Cup tournament in Manchester in 2021, with Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu believed to be among them.
Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands and PNG Orchids, who recorded an historic Test defeat of England in Port Moresby last weekend, will contest the 2021 World Cup, along with England, France, Canada and Brazil.
The Jillaroos and Kiwi Ferns played before last month’s Australia-New Zealand Oceania Cup Test in Wollongong, while the Kiwi Ferns hosted Fetu Samoa as a curtain-raiser to the mid-year NZ-Tonga Test and the Orchids played Fiji at Leichhardt Oval.
The establishment of an Oceania Cup would be another step forward for the game following the announcement by RLWC2021 organisers that all players – male, female and wheelchair – would receive equal payment.
Prize-money has also been introduced for the women’s and wheelchair World Cups for the first time, while the schedule for the women’s tournament was altered to increase turnaround times between matches for the eight teams.
Players in the four women’s teams at last month’s World Cup 9s at Bankwest Stadium also received the same payment from tournament organisers as their male counterparts.
