Defending premiers the Sydney Roosters will kick off the second women's competition of 2022 as favourites, facing Parramatta in the first game on Saturday.

Brisbane will again likely be strong, while St George Illawarra have the most stable squad after being minor premiers last season.

Newcastle are the club to watch, having recruited Tamika Upton, Millie Boyle and Hannah Southwell to go from wooden spooners to genuine contenders.

But beyond that, the women's game finds itself at a critical juncture early in its push towards professionalism.

At Wednesday's launch at the new Allianz Stadium, it was evident that the future shape of the competition remains on most players' minds.

Questions from reporters centred around how next year will look and when it will be played, after the NRL doubled its expansion plans to bring in four new teams to go to 10 in 2023 and more growth likely to follow.

Players are desperate to sort out their futures as part-time athletes with jobs outside of rugby league.

They are yet to receive the contracting model for next year and they don't know what the salary cap will be set at or when the league will be played.

Notably, Australia captain Ali Brigginshaw has called for the NRLW to expand to at least 14 rounds next year, arguing only then will the league reach its potential.

"I'd like to play each team twice ... I've always been big on that," Brigginshaw said.

"Or maybe we go to one-and-a-half home-and-away rounds next year before we go to a full 18-round season in future.

"When you play a team and you either win, they can have another crack at you and vice-versa.

"In the men's they pick teams to pieces with video and when you play them again (in the women's) it could be a completely different team."

Brigginshaw's call has backing from some fellow players, and will no doubt be discussed in meetings between the players' association and NRL.

Talks are continuing on that front, with an inaugural women's collective bargaining agreement being thrashed out that will come into place next year.

The NRL initially allocated $750,000 to the women's game in the last men's CBA in 2018, but have also long shown a desire for that to grow and backed by a commitment to a women's specific agreement.

Discussions have now ramped up with the Rugby League Players Association and NRL at the table to discuss the women's deal for 2023-2027 in tandem with the men's, with meetings this week.

But players want clarity to come soon given the uncertainty over next season, according to RLPA director and Brisbane prop Chelsea Lenarduzzi.

"As a player it's kind of getting to the point where we're feeling stressed and anxious about it because it's a really important thing," Lenarduzzi said.

"We want more security ... a lot of things we're fighting for are basic employment conditions.

"Things like a pregnancy policy, or that the health insurance space isn't as good as it should be.

"A lot of that comes down to the schedule and planning too."

The most likely scenario for 2023 is that it is a nine-round regular season plus finals, played at the back-end of the year.

But there is a feel among many at clubs that the clear air that the postponed 2021 season got when played earlier this year from February onwards worked well.

Players also like the prospect the NRLW finals being played just before State of Origin matches, meaning they are at their peak for the biggest games of the year.

The other challenge around scheduling is broadcasting.

The looming increase to five games per week next year means there will inevitably be clashes with men's or other women's fixtures.

Technically there is no agreement for every match to be show live, but the NRL is extremely confident that will be the case with players and the league both aware of the importance of that.

There will however be no extra revenue available from the broadcasters.

Women's NRLW and Origin matches were sold as an additional part of the overall men's deal, given to broadcasters at cost price.

It means the NRL is not paying for the matches to be shown as some other women's leagues in other sports have in the past, but there is a view from players that the product could have been sold for greater revenue.

Something the NRL hopes to do in the next rights negotiations.

"Our current rights arrangements are locked until 2027," NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said.

"And that's an all-in deal with our partners.

"(The year) 2028 is a completely different story. And the preparation for that obviously starts now.

"The element of growth, structure and how that might be commercialised, all of that will unfold as the planning in the next couple of years."

How the NRL and RLPA complete a fair pay deal for the modern-day pioneers of the women's sport is also of interest, with no previous agreement and women's revenue hard to properly assess.

But Abdo is confident clarity can be found.

"We're heavily in the negotiations with all the stakeholders, particularly with the RLPA in a very important negotiation where we set up the next five years for both male and female athletes," Abdo said.

"And an element of that will be around the salary cap, and an around that will be around season structure.

"We're also working with our broadcast partners and all the stakeholders around what the optimal timing and structure for the women's competition is."

Australian Associated Press