Canberra Stadium will host the 2022 women's State of Origin clash between NSW and Queensland on June 24.

Raiders chief executive Don Furner says the match is a major coup for Canberra's bid to join an expanded NRLW competition in 2023, adamant the game is "the perfect starting point" for the Green Machine's vision.

NRL head of football Graham Annesley says the code will take a cautious approach to expansion but a decision looms within months as officials consider adding another two clubs to the fold.

Annesley sees the Canberra region as an ideal place to expand the women's competition given the pathway it would open up for a wider region considered a rugby league stronghold.

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"There's a bit of chicken and egg in this stuff, because in order to try to increase participation and elevate the development of playing talent, you need to have something to strive for," Annesley said.

"Clearly in an NRL sense, it would be hard motivating junior players to get involved if they didn't have an NRL club to aspire to. Obviously the women's game is going to expand, we're not going to get to 16 teams overnight, so it'll be a progressive thing that happens.

"We've got interest from a lot of clubs. Who goes next will be a matter for the commission, but this is a great rugby league area. The regional areas around the ACT are fantastic rugby league areas. I'm absolutely confident [in the playing depth].

"We've got to temper that development with making sure we don't go too fast and have an impact on the standard of the game. The women's game is expanding so fast, and the more we lift the competitive level of those games, the faster it will expand."

Only then can rugby league bosses dream of the day they have "a complete replica of the NRL competition that stands alone, and draws its own revenue from television rights, gate receipts, sponsorship".

Furner points to a time when boys grew up in the Canberra region dreaming of playing for Manly or Parramatta. That all changed when the Raiders were founded, and he hopes the club can now have the same impact on girls.

A State of Origin showdown in Canberra is the perfect chance for fans to join the cause and vote with their feet as the Raiders push for an NRLW team.

"We've talked about this for three years, we've put submissions in before and we were lucky enough to get it this year," Furner said.

"Part of our strategy was initially to build a centre of excellence in town, which we got support from the ACT government for so we'd be able to put a team in. That entry has been affected by COVID, we hope to apply for a team next year.

"The starting point would be to host a magnificent State of Origin game here in Canberra for the first time on neutral ground.

"Hopefully next year we'll have our own team so these young girls will aspire to play in a green jersey just like young boys did 40 years ago when we started the men's team.

"Once you see that aspirational team in front of you with a green jersey, we want those young girls here to aspire to play for us.

"There's a lot of girls who have left this region that are in Sydney now playing, as there were male players 40 years ago. They had to move to Sydney to play. We want them to stay here."

NRL ROUND ONE

Friday: Canberra Raiders v Cronulla Sharks at Canberra Stadium, 6pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. James Schiller, 4. Matt Timoko, 5. Semi Valemei, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Brad Schneider, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Corey Harawira-Naera, 13. Elliott Whitehead (C). Bench: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Emre Guler, 16. Adam Elliott, 17. Corey Horsburgh, 18. Ryan Sutton, 19. Matt Frawley, 20. Trey Mooney, 21. Harry Rushton, 22. Jarrod Croker, 23. Xavier Savage, 24. Sam Williams.

Sharks squad: 1. Will Kennedy, 2. Sione Katoa, 3. Jesse Ramien, 4. Ronaldo Mulitalo, 5. Matt Ikuvalu, 6. Matt Moylan, 7. Nicho Hynes, 8. Toby Rudolf, 9. Blayke Brailey, 10. Braden Hamlin-Uele, 11. Briton Nikora, 12. Teig Wilton, 13. Dale Finucane (C). Bench: 14. Aiden Tolman, 15. Siosifa Talakai, 16. Royce Hunt, 17. Andrew Fifita, 18. Luke Metcalf, 19. Jesse Colquhoun, 20. Lachlan Miller, 21. Jensen Taumoepeau, 22. Jayden Berrell, 23. Jonaiah Lualua, 24. Thomas Hazelton.

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