Jada Ferguson says the timing of the womens state of origin 2026 series is difficult for players, with all three matches set to be played before the NRLW season begins. The Broncos forward said it is hard knowing the opener will be the first game back for Brisbane players since last year’s grand final.
“It's really hard knowing it's our first game for Broncos (players) since the grand final last year,” Ferguson said. “It's your first game, it's that high quality level, it's pretty hard to go straight into that having not played in so long.” Nine will broadcast the 2026 series live and free on Nine and 9Now.
The scheduling debate has followed women’s Origin for years as the format has expanded from one match to two in 2023 and then to a three-match series that began in 2024. This year’s setup means the entire series lands before the NRLW season, rather than being played after the competition starts or across a break in the club calendar.
Ferguson said she could see an NRLW bye weekend being used to fit the series in, but she argued the matches need to sit inside the competition window. “It is hard but I wouldn't know how else they would do it,” she said. “I think personally it would be all right to have a bye weekend in the NRLW and maybe do it then. It's hard to say but I definitely think it needs to be after or in between the NRLW.”
She also warned that the current arrangement can cut into the flow of the season and leave clubs exposed later on. “It can be disruptive in the season splitting it,” Ferguson said. “Maybe girls get injured and you lose them in the back half which would be pretty hard. End of NRLW (could work) and that can go into the World Cup.”
Adam Jackson suggested another option: starting the NRLW season earlier and building in a six-week break before finals, or shifting Origin to the end of the year. The broader problem is not new. Women’s Origin has been pushed through multiple formats, and the current structure still leaves players trying to back up from club football’s biggest stage into representative football’s highest-intensity series with no NRLW games in between.
New South Wales listed Abbi Church at fullback and Jesse Southwell at halfback, while Queensland named Tamika Upton at fullback and Lauren Brown at halfback. For now, the debate is less about who will play than when they are asked to do it, and Ferguson’s view was plain: the calendar is asking too much, too early.
