NRL Touch Football is excited to announce that the Sydney Roosters will join the NRL Touch Premiership, fielding both a men's team and women's team in 2019.
Touch football is a huge participation sport in Australia, with 680,000 players competing across the country.
More than 100,000 of those reside in Sydney.
RoostersTV with NRL Touch CEO Steve Mitchell
The Roosters already have extensive links to touch football, with a fully integrated partnership with Eastern Suburbs Touch (ESTA), which is the largest touch football competition in NSW, and an MoU with Touch Football South Australia (TFSA) to work collaboratively to help grow both touch football and rugby league in South Australia.
Sydney Roosters CEO Scott Bennetts said having some of the best male and female touch players in the world representing the Roosters on game day will consolidate the club's program from grassroots to the elite levels of the sport.
"We are excited to be a part of the 2019 NRL Touch Premiership and for the opportunity to connect with new audiences at the venue on game day and through broadcast," said Bennetts.
NRL Touch Football CEO Steve Mitchell is delighted to be aligning with the 2018 NRL Premiership-winning Sydney Roosters and growing both touch and tackle versions of rugby league.
"It's fantastic to have the Roosters joining the competition next year.
"They are a foundation NRL club with a level of professionalism that is unsurpassed.
"We're looking forward to working closely with them to bring the 2019 NRL Touch Premiership to life."
It was also recently announced that the New Zealand Warriors will enter the 2019 NRL Touch Premiership, joining the Roosters and the six NRL clubs that competed in the inaugural NRL Touch Premiership this year: the Wests Tigers, Parramatta Eels, Newcastle Knights, Gold Coast Titans, Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys.
The NRL Touch Premiership consists of elite touch football games – a 30-minute men's game and 30-minute women's game – played as curtain-raisers to NRL games.
Branding, including uniforms, aligns with the branding of each namesake NRL club.
"Because of the speed of elite touch football, the phenomenal footwork, long balls, dives and the family-friendly nature of the sport, the NRL Touch Premiership has been coined as rugby league's answer to the Big Bash," said Mitchell.
The second year of the NRLTP will also consist of significantly more rounds than in the inaugural year.
For more information or to arrange an interview, contact:
NRL Touch Football Marketing & Communications Manager, Alice Ellis
Ph: 0436 668 327 // Email: alice.ellis@touchfootball.com.au
