Overview
- The tournament opened on Thursday with Australia v New Zealand at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium, starting the month-long RLWC that runs from October 15 to November 15.
- Every match is available free in Australia on Channel 7 and 7plus, and ThreeNow in New Zealand will stream all Kiwis matches plus the semi-finals and finals for free.
- Premier Sports holds rights in many other countries and is offering a paid RLWC26 pass that provides access to all 53 matches across the men’s, women’s and wheelchair competitions.
- Numerous consumer guides recommend VPN services (for example NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark) to bypass geo-blocking and watch host-nation free streams, while noting legal and terms-of-service caveats.
- On the field Australia enter as defending men’s and women’s champions and New Zealand has, for the first time, included State of Origin players in its squad, a selection choice that adds a new dynamic to early tournament matchups.