Katrina Fanning the flames of the NRLW licence fees

Especially given it's the only competition where a license fee is paid.

Fanning, a Canberra Raiders director, will be at Canberra Stadium waiting for the gates to open ahead of an ACT triple-header on Saturday - starting with two NRLW games and followed by the Raiders' NRL elimination final against the Cronulla Sharks.

The women's rugby league trailblazer played 26 Tests for Australia and was awarded the ACT Australian of the Year not only for her work in women's sport, but also her work in the Indigenous community.

She's passionate about ensuring the Raiders have an NRLW team - potentially 2022 with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic ruling out next year - and said plenty of work had gone into developing local talent to ensure there was a strong representation when they entered.

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The NRLW opening round will begin with the Sydney Roosters against the St George Illawarra Dragons at 11.30am, followed by two-time reigning premier Brisbane Broncos against the New Zealand Warriors at 3pm.

Due to the NRL bubble, the NRLW players will use neighbouring AIS track changerooms and - given there's athletics on there as well - they will be completely cleaned according to COVID-19 protocols. Hence, the delay between NRLW games.

"It's exciting to have the games here. It helps with the conversation around our club about that should and could be us soon," Fanning said.

"The licence [fee] that you have to pay - none of the other competitions in the NRL the clubs have to pay to put a team in.

"It makes it hard for teams to get started if that money's not going directly to getting a team on the park.

"That's probably something to look at, but the NRL's coming out of COVID so budgets and things are pretty tight for a while."

NRLW ROUND ONE

Saturday: Sydney Roosters v St George Illawarra Dragons, 11.30am. Brisbane Broncos v New Zealand Warriors, 3pm. Both games at Canberra Stadium.