NRLW receives major boost as Olympic gold medallists set to return

Less than 24 hours after winning a gold medal in Paris, the attention of some of New Zealand's rugby sevens stars has turned to the NRLW season.

In emotional scenes in Paris, the side made it two-straight Olympic triumphs, defeating Canada in a nail-biting final on Tuesday to claim the country's first gold medal of 2024.

Among the stars of the show for gold medallists was Tyla King, who is regarded as one of New Zealand's greatest sevens players in history, and is now preparing to fly back to Australia and ply her trade for the Dragons in the rugby league competition.

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The 30-year-old played for the Red V last season and has signed on again for this year's NRLW campaign, which kicked off last weekend.

"Tyla was huge for us last year, especially with the first time she had played league being in the NRLW," Dragons captain Raecene McGregor told NRL.

"She brings experience and leadership, so it is awesome to have her there. She is good for the young girls, and she is a cool head for me."

Watch every moment, every medal of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 live and free on Channel 9 and 9Now. Plus, every event streaming ad free, live and on demand with 4K on Stan Sport.

Dragons coach and club great Jamie Soward is one of King's greatest admirers.

"Her making the decision last year to join the Dragons was a really proud one that I didn't take lightly, and the club understood how important that was," he said in April.

"For her to go and represent her country at the Olympics and decide she's going to finish up her sporting career at the Dragons shows where the club is at.

"It shows how much we look after our players and that we want them to be the best, but we also want them to get better. We can't wait to have Tyla back for another two years."

King won't be the only Kiwi sevens star coming into the league with Olympic gold - Stacey Waaka has signed with the Broncos and Tenika Willison will join the Knights.

There were also plenty of ex-sevens players featuring in the opening round of NRLW.

Emma Tonegato, who won gold with Australia in the 2016 Olympics, has become a household name since switching to league, while Evania Pelite was a standout in the recent women's State of Origin series for the Maroons.

Watch the 2024 NRLW premiership live and free on Nine and 9Now.