The NRL Touch Premiership is expanding with South Sydney, Canterbury and Manly joining the men's and women's competition in 2020.
They will line up in the premiership alongside the Broncos, Titans, Warriors and Cowboys, who have been involved in the elite competition since its foundation year of 2018.
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.
“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," said NRL Touch Football CEO Jamie O’Connor.
“Touch Football has huge participation and popularity in the regions of all three clubs. 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, with their women’s team winning NSW's elite domestic competition last year, and Bankstown Sports’ men’s team winning the male division. Things look bright for the Dogs this year.
“The Northern Beaches is NSW'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.