Story by Paul Malone, The Courier-Mail
May 17, 2017 3:00am
RUGBY league has struck back in the accelerated contest to get female team sports on to free-to-air television by securing live Channel 7 broadcasts of the women’s World Cup.

Off the pace in national teams competitions in comparison with cricket, Australian football and netball, league will have all 12 matches of the women’s World Cup live on one of Seven’s channels.

This month’s women’s league trans-Tasman Test on Channel 9 was telecast on a delayed basis after a live broadcast of the men’s Test.

“To broadcast every match across Australia is a significant step forward for rugby league, providing a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate the skills and competitiveness of the women’s game,’’ RLWC chief executive Andrew Hill said.

“It will inspire further growth of the game from grassroots to the elite level. Female participation is one of the fastest growing areas of the sport.’’

The highly condensed 12-match women’s tournament culminates with a December 2 final at Suncorp Stadium as a curtain-raiser to the men’s final. The round-robin matches will all be played as triple-headers at Cronulla NRL club’s ground, with the two semi-finals being played there as a double-header on November 26.