The 2018 NRL Touch Premiership season is the inaugural season of the NRL Touch Premiership in Australia, and coincided with matches in the 2018 NRL season. The premiership was launched in partnership with Touch Football Australia and the National Rugby League, and was made up of a three round regular season split into two conferences - Queensland and New South Wales - with the first-placed teams in both conferences progressing to the grand final.
Teams The premiership included six teams in its inaugural season, extracted from the 2018 Elite 8 Series. Each team was aligned to a current NRL club, and was made up of players selected by Queensland Touch Football and NSW Touch Football based on their performances at the 2018 National Touch League. ColoursTeamNRL-Aligned ClubSeasonHome groundMen'sWomen'sHead CoachAssistant CoachManagerCaptain(s)CoachAssistant CoachManagerCaptain(s)QLD CowboysNorth Queensland Cowboys1st season1300SMILES StadiumPhil GyemoreTim VillalbaJustin MitchellDaniel WithersSwain RovelliMitch SmithAnita HagartyRylie SeamarkQLD TitansGold Coast Titans1st seasonCbus Super StadiumChris LothTristan ManaBrendan JonesPeter NormanRenee MurphyLeasha ThouardBrenda RackemannMarikki Watego, Ashleigh KearneyQLD BroncosBrisbane Broncos1st seasonSuncorp StadiumJason BoydJohn BeesleyTyrone BruceLucas FeldmanCraig MorrowMichael BaartzParramatta EelsParramatta Eels1st seasonANZ StadiumMark BolandJason MartinRicky HetheringtonBarry GibsonAnthony DudeckChristian BrowneNewcastle KnightsNewcastle Knights1st seasonMcDonald Jones StadiumJoel WilloughbyKarley BanksAndrew WiseMichael MoussaBrooke PlayfordSheralee LangbridgeWests TigersWests Tigers1st seasonANZ StadiumTony TradDave NolanRobert BarakatPaul SfeirMatt ScranageKim Solman
Regular season The regular season was broken into two conferences, consisting of three teams each - Cowboys, Titans, and Broncos in the Queensland conference and Eels, Knights, and Tigers in the NSW conference.
Round 1
ConferenceHomeAwayVenueDateMen'sWomen'sTimeScoreRefereesTimeScoreRefereesNSWParramatta EelsWests TigersANZ StadiumFriday, 18 May3:55pm4-7Kim Skelly* Tony Calabria*
Robert Bowen*4:40pm4-3Kim Skelly Tony Calabria
Luke Saldern*QLDQLD CowboysQLD Titans1300SMILES StadiumSaturday, 19 May3:05pm7-4Luke McKenzie* Brett Freshwater*
Michael Littlefield*3:50pm5-8Luke McKenzie Brett Freshwater
Denise Weier*
Round 2
ConferenceHomeAwayVenueDateMen'sWomen'sTimeScoreRefereesTimeScoreRefereesNSWNewcastle KnightsParramatta EelsMcDonald Jones StadiumSaturday, 30 June5-4David Baggio, Tony Calabria, Kim Skelly 4-3Kim Skelly, Rob Bowen, Luke SaldernQLDQLD BroncosQLD CowboysSuncorp StadiumSaturday, 30 June7-2Anthony Smith, Brad Smith, Luke McKenzie4-3Anthony Smith, Brad Smith, Amanda Sheeky
Round 3
ConferenceHomeAwayVenueDateMen'sWomen'sTimeScoreRefereesTimeScoreRefereesQLDQLD TitansQLD BroncosCbus Super StadiumSunday, 15 July2-07-8NSWWests TigersNewcastle KnightsANZ StadiumSaturday, 21 July4-39-5 (*) Denotes referee debut
Grand final The grand final is played between the first-placed team in the Queensland conference, and the first-placed team in the New South Wales conference. QLD Conference TeamScoreNSW Conference TeamVenueDateTimeRefereesWomen'sQLD Broncos 2-4Wests TigersCbus Super StadiumSaturday, 29 JulynoonTony Calabria
Brett Freshwater
Amanda SheekyMen'sQLD Broncos 6-5Wests Tigers12:45pmDavid Baggio
Kim Skelly
Luke McKenzie
References