Every week they will be winning by 40 or 50 points, which will be sad.
In the ongoing story of women's sport finding its footing, the movement of a single talented player can reveal the fault lines beneath the surface. Twenty-year-old halfback Jesse Southwell has signed with reigning NRLW premiers Brisbane, leaving Newcastle behind in pursuit of the game's highest stage — a decision entirely rational for one young woman, yet one that concentrates excellence further in a competition already struggling to distribute it. The NRLW, still young and still growing, now faces the oldest tension in sport: how to nurture individual ambition without allowing it to hollow out the whole.
- Brisbane and the Sydney Roosters already played a different sport from everyone else in 2025, with no rival getting within ten points of either in a single regular-season match.
- Southwell's departure strips Newcastle of another marquee talent, following Tamika Upton's exit the previous year, leaving the Knights and others further behind.
- Despite losing Gayle Broughton, Mele Hufanga, and Keilee Joseph, Brisbane's machine absorbs the losses and keeps running — Southwell ensures the engine stays powerful.
- Andrew Johns has warned bluntly that the signing could reduce the competition to a two-team spectacle, with Brisbane winning by 40 or 50 points weekly against outmatched opponents.
- The NRL expanded to twelve teams in 2025 hoping to broaden the competition, but the numbers — and now this transfer — suggest the gap between the elite and the rest is widening, not closing.
Jesse Southwell made her decision on a Monday in October. The twenty-year-old NSW State of Origin halfback let her Newcastle contract expire and signed a two-year deal with Brisbane — the reigning premiers, the team that had just won the grand final, the club that already looked untouchable. She would partner the retiring Ali Brigginshaw in the halves for 2026, then take full control of the Broncos' attack the year after.
The move made sense for her career. It made a lot of people in rugby league deeply uncomfortable. Newcastle had already lost Tamika Upton to Brisbane the previous summer. The 2025 season had laid bare a competition split in two: Brisbane and the Sydney Roosters won everything, lost only to each other, and finished the regular season in a different stratosphere from the rest. The Broncos accumulated four times as many competition points as last-placed Wests Tigers. The gap was not a gap — it was a chasm.
Brisbane had lost pieces. Gayle Broughton, Mele Hufanga — the Karyn Murphy Medal winner — and lock Keilee Joseph were all departing. But Southwell's arrival meant the machine would keep running. Andrew Johns had said it plainly months earlier: if Southwell went to Brisbane, the competition might as well skip the regular season and go straight to a grand final between Brisbane and the Roosters. He had called on the NRL to block the transfer entirely.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo had cautioned before the finals that it was too early to call the competition lopsided. The numbers suggested otherwise. Southwell spoke warmly about Brisbane's professionalism and her desire to learn from the club's coaches and players. It was a reasonable answer — and one that meant the richest club in the women's game had just grown richer still.
Jesse Southwell made her choice on a Monday in October. The twenty-year-old halfback, who had worn the NSW blue in State of Origin, would not be staying at Newcastle. Instead, she was heading to Brisbane—to the reigning premiers, to the team that had just won the grand final in a thriller, to the club that already looked untouchable.
For weeks the speculation had circled. Southwell held the option to extend her Newcastle contract for two more years. She let it expire. Now she would partner Ali Brigginshaw, the retiring great, in Brisbane's halves for 2026, before taking full control of the Broncos' attack the year after. It was a move that made sense for her career. It was also a move that made a lot of people in rugby league very uncomfortable.
Newcastle had already taken a hit. Last summer, Tamika Upton had left for Brisbane. This year, the Knights finished third, a distant third, watching the competition's two best teams pull away. Brisbane and the Sydney Roosters had played a different sport than everyone else. They only lost to each other. The Broncos won the decider 22-18, a game that mattered because almost no other game did. In the 2025 regular season, no other club got within ten points of either of them in a single match. Brisbane finished with four times as many competition points as Wests Tigers, sitting last. The gap was not a gap. It was a chasm.
Brisbane had lost pieces. Five-eighth Gayle Broughton was heading to the Warriors. Mele Hufanga, who had won the Karyn Murphy Medal, was going too. Lock Keilee Joseph was off to Parramatta. These were not small departures. But Southwell's arrival meant the Broncos would stay strong. They would stay ahead. The machine would keep running.
Andrew Johns, the former Newcastle and Blues great, had said it plainly on a Nine podcast back in August, before Southwell's move was official. "If Jesse goes to Brisbane you may as well just have one round, just have a grand final: Brisbane against the Roosters," he said. "No one is going to get near them. Every week they will be winning by 40 or 50 points, which will be sad." He had even called for the NRL to block the transfer altogether.
The NRLW had expanded from ten teams to twelve in 2025, its first season at the new size. Andrew Abdo, the NRL's chief executive, had said before the finals that it was too early to declare the competition lopsided. But the numbers told a different story. The regular season had been a procession. Two teams at the top, everyone else fighting for scraps. And now the best young halfback in the country was joining the best team.
Southwell herself spoke about what drew her to Brisbane. The professionalism. The club's long investment in women's rugby league. The style of football they played. "The biggest thing for me was I could see the girls were learning here," she said. "I can't wait to learn, learn from the girls, learn from the coaches." It was a reasonable answer. It was also, unavoidably, an answer that meant the rich were getting richer, and the rest of the competition was getting poorer.
Notable Quotes
If Jesse goes to Brisbane you may as well just have one round, just have a grand final: Brisbane against the Roosters. No one is going to get near them.— Andrew Johns, former NRL player
The biggest thing for me was I could see the girls were learning here. I can't wait to learn from the girls, learn from the coaches.— Jesse Southwell
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does one player's move matter this much? Isn't it just one halfback?
Because she's not just any halfback. She's twenty, she's already playing State of Origin, and she's choosing to join a team that's already won the premiership. In a competition this small, that's not a lateral move—that's a consolidation of power.
But Brisbane lost some good players too. Doesn't that balance it out?
On paper, maybe. But Southwell is younger and arguably better than what they lost. She'll be the face of their attack for the next decade. The players they lost are gone. She's just arriving.
What does Andrew Johns mean about it becoming a one-round competition?
He's saying if the gap gets any wider, there's no point playing the regular season. Brisbane and the Roosters will beat everyone else so badly that the only game that matters is when they play each other. You lose the drama, the unpredictability—the things that make sport worth watching.
Is that actually happening, or is he being dramatic?
The 2025 numbers suggest he's not far off. No other team got within ten points of Brisbane or the Roosters all season. Brisbane had four times the competition points of last place. That's not competitive balance. That's two teams and ten also-rans.
Why didn't the NRL just block the move?
Because there's no rule against it. Players can sign where they want. The NRL could create rules, but that's a bigger conversation—about salary caps, about distribution, about whether the competition is actually broken or just young and uneven.
So what happens next?
We'll find out in 2026. If Brisbane wins by 40 points every week, the conversation gets louder. If other teams catch up, maybe this was just a growing pain. But right now, the momentum is all one direction.