An official launch is planned for this summer and will see elite teams from the women's game merge into a professionally-run competition alongside the men's Super League.

Teams which now operate as community clubs will be formally allied to men's Super League outfits, although the players will remain amateur.

The move has the backing of Sport England, who have given the RFL a grant of £10.75 million ($13.4 million/€12.3 million) for the next four years.

It is hoped this will aid attempts to attract more women to the sport, as well as players from ethnic minorities. 

The project is being led by Sarah-Jane Gray, who took up the role of director of development and public affairs within the RFL in November.

"The women's game has been growing but only by modest amounts and we wanted to see a big lever to kick it on," she said.

"We were already committed to this and it was one of the pillars of the RFL's submission to Sport England, who are very supportive of it."

It is expected that six to eight teams will compete at a formal level in 2018, and that the league will then grow to 12 teams by 2021.

Clubs will be expected to fall under the umbrella of their local professional clubs with Leeds Rhinos among the Super League sides to have pledged their support.