I've seen two rounds of the National Women's Rugby League Premiership and have seen enough to know that the scheduling is not working.
The timing of the matches is making it incredibly difficult for even the most ardent NRLW fan to watch on television, let alone attend games in person.
Let's take a look at what has happened in the first two weeks.
In Round 1, the NRLW season opener had space and was the only game played on Thursday night. Then there were two games on Saturday, the earliest starting at 11am and then two games on Sunday (one of which clashed with the afternoon men's game).
In Round 2, the first fixture was at 11am on Saturday morning, with two games on Saturday and three games on Sunday (with a clash with the afternoon's men's game).
From a fan perspective the timing is hard. Saturday morning is a challenging time slot for attendance, due to so many people having sporting commitments and it's a big ask for fans of footy to be planted on their couches from 11am on a Saturday morning until 9:30pm on a Saturday night.
Combined with the men's competition, from Round 2 there are five games on a Saturday and five games on a Sunday. No fan is going to watch that much rugby league and by having two games on at the same time, the NRL is almost forcing people to make a choice and cannibalising their own audience.
I'm raising this now because this is not a challenge that is going to go away. In fact the challenge will only become more pronounced as the competition expands, with two new teams entering the competition next year. That means that another game will need to be added into an already busy schedule.
It's a challenge for the NRL, especially leading into the negotiation of the next broadcast deal.
According to Andrew Abdo, Chief Executive Officer at the NRL, the NRLW is incredibly strategic and important for the next cycle.
The easiest way to demonstrate value is with eyeballs and attendance. At the moment, the NRLW is not being put in the best position to deliver either of those things. Ultimately this impacts the incredible athletes who sacrifice so much already to compete and could benefit from the increased investment which would no doubt occur following a bonanza broadcast deal.
It could be the NRL's plan to have the two competitions run concurrently and just accept that people will need to make a choice about what games to watch, or we could think about whether there is a better way.
So what's the solution? The only benefit that I can see of having the season on right now is hosting the NRL and NRLW Grand Finals on the same day. I love Grand Final day and that the two games are played on the same day, but for the good of the competition it might be time to concede this benefit.
The most attention that the NRLW ever received was in 2022 when it was played in February/March due to the COVID postponement. In February, after a long off-season, people are typically hungry for footy and it showed in 2022. My view is that we should harness that and start the competition in February before the men's competition starts.
The women's Grand Final could be a stand-alone event, which may encourage different attendance as the price point would no doubt be more affordable than the extravaganza which takes place in October.
State of Origin could be played at the end of the NRLW season after the players have had the benefit of game time. That would fix another issue, being that we are essentially asking the NRLW players currently to play the biggest fixtures of the year almost cold, with very little recent footy to rely on. It would also give the coaches a better opportunity to pick in-form players, rather than relying on state-based competitions or training camps.
Then to continue the momentum, after State of Origin, International fixtures could be scheduled.
This is a deeply complicated issue and one that I don't envy the NRL on. But the current scheduling does not make sense and our players deserve more eyes on television watching and more fans in the stands, particularly given how good the quality of the competition is.