The nib Newcastle Knights officially launched their men's and women's touch football squads on Monday, set to play in the historic 2018 NRL Touch Premiership.
Both representative teams will play as curtain raisers to the Knights Round 16 clash against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on Saturday, June 30 at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The Knights touch sides will take on the Parramatta Eels in Round 16, before encountering the Wests Tigers in Round 19 at ANZ Stadium on Saturday, July 21.
The competition will last for seven rounds in total and each touch team will play two games, as well as a finals series.
Boasting more than 600,000 participants, touch football is the largest social sport in Australia with an even gender split, which helps to attract new audiences to NRL games.
Touch football has also proven to be a breeding ground for some of the NRL's brightest talents, including the Knights very own Kalyn Ponga and Aidan Guerra, who have honed their skills in the non-contact sport before graduating to league.
As well as the Knights, the Wests Tigers, Parramatta Eels, Brisbane Broncos, Gold Coast Titans and North Queensland Cowboys make up the competition.
