NRL Touch Football has announced that the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Manly Warringah Sea Eagles will join the NRL Touch Premiership in 2020.
These three New South Wales clubs will join the three Queensland clubs – Brisbane Broncos, Gold Coast Titans and North Queensland Cowboys – that have been involved in the elite Touch competition since its inaugural year, 2018, as well as the New Zealand Warriors, who joined the competition last year.
Each of the seven NRL clubs will field both a men’s team and women’s team.
Touch Football is Australia’s largest social sport, with 700,000 players competing across the country. But the elite version of the game is something else, said NRL Touch Football CEO Jamie O’Connor.
“As I’ve said before, because of the speed of elite Touch Football, the phenomenal footwork, long balls, dives and fast-paced try-scoring, each NRL Touch Premiership gameday is like watching an hour-long Kalyn Ponga highlights reel.”
O’Connor is looking forward to having the Rabbitohs, Bulldogs and Sea Eagles join the competition for 2020. “Touch Football has huge participation and popularity in the regions of all three clubs,” he said.
“The Rabbitohs have great history in Touch, as the sport’s very first club established more than 50 years ago in 1968.
“Canterbury Touch Association is thriving, both in juniors and seniors, with their women’s team winning New South Wales’ elite domestic competition last year. Things look bright for the Dogs this year.
“The Northern Beaches is New South Wales’s Touch Football heartland – at Manly Touch you’ll find 330 junior teams playing every Friday night during summer and the area continues to develop some of the game’s most elite players.”
“I’m also really looking forward to continuing to work with the Broncos, Titans, Cowboys and Warriors again to further grow the profile of the competition.”
The NRL Touch Premiership consists of elite touch football games – a 30-minute men’s game and 30-minute women’s game – played at major stadiums around Australia and New Zealand ahead of NRL fixtures.
Branding, including uniforms, aligns with the branding of each namesake NRL club.
The 2020 NRL Touch Premiership draw will be released shortly.
Further information to follow regarding Coach, Assistant Coach and Manager appointments regarding the QLD teams.
