The six week season will run until November 21 and will be played as 11-a-side and will take in sides from the Group Three and Group Two areas.

Previous competitions have been under the nine-a-side format. Grades will be opens, under 15s and under 17s.

Wingham will be the only Manning side in the open competition. Other teams are Wauchope, Forster-Tuncurry, Port City, Lower Macleay, Kendall, Macleay Valley, Coffs Harbour and Port Sharks.

However, Taree Panthers have nominated for the under 17s and under 15s.

Sawtell, Macleay, Coffs Harbour, Bellingen and Port Sharks will also play in the under 17s, Sawtell, Macleay, Bowraville, Port City, Bellingen and Port Sharks will be starters in the under 15s.

All games will be played under international rules.

NSWRL women's pathways manager Kylie Hilder from Forster is happy with the response.

She expects a draw to be finalised soon. At this stage it is planned to play all games on Saturday afternoon.

Hilder confirmed North Coast squads in the opens and under 17s would be named at the conclusion of the season. The squads would make up the nucleus of North Coast teams to play in next year's Country Championships.

Last year's North Coast women's competition was curtailed through the bushfire crisis that threatened the area in November. The Country Championships were then halted in March because of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Hilder said the competition would be a pathway to representative football and ultimately lead to players gaining places with Harvey Norman NSW Women's Rugby League premiership teams or even NRLW squads.

She added there would be further opportunities for players with plans to extend the NRLW to at least six sides in 2021. Four teams have played in the opening two seasons of the NRLW.

"Rugby league for women is growing and the standard of the competition keeps improving,'' Hilder, a 2019 State of Origin representative said.