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The Game 2023 NRL draw

Last Week

Bench
Messages
3,642
The NRL isn't the NFL or the EPL. That will never happen.
I don't see how those competitions are relevant or comparable in this situation, but the point still stands.

Players and staff earn plenty, the game has enough revenue to service all levels and grow where appropriate. They can take the hit to make games days more appealing.

Hey if you think my above suggestion is radical, you would hate my preferred option of having multiple games played at the same time on Sunday arvos.
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,411
I don't see how those competitions are relevant or comparable in this situation, but the point still stands.

Players and staff earn plenty, the game has enough revenue to service all levels and grow where appropriate. They can take the hit to make games days more appealing.

Hey if you think my above suggestion is radical, you would hate my preferred option of having multiple games played at the same time on Sunday arvos.
Theres no reason not to have that when we move to full streaming service. With the technology these days you can watch picture in picture, start on demand, replay on demand, watch minis. I doubt many people have the time these days to watch 8 games live. I know I'm down to about 3 live and rest on replay.
 

Tigers1986

Juniors
Messages
1,315
Hopefully Wests Tigers reveal their allocation soon enough. I'm getting a little bit anxious about it because membership is almost being renewed and there'll be new options etc regarding venues.
 
Messages
12,413
The 2023 NRL season will be the earliest kick-off in 22-years, lasting 31 weeks and in a major shock for fans, every club will have three byes.

The game’s historic expansion to a 17 team competition with the inclusion of The Dolphins makes it the most complex and jam-packed NRL schedule on record.

In a massive win for fans, the regular season will be run over 27 rounds with four weeks of finals.

Such is the mind-numbing proposition of creating a balanced draw for 17 teams, the finished product is almost impossible to be deemed even or fair.

It’s more than possible your favourite team will play only half of the competition once.

The Tigers, Warriors, Knights and Titans are already praying they are the teams that draw Penrith, South Sydney, the Cowboys or Parramatta just once.

The scheduling conundrum has emerged as a result of club CEO’s being given a draft proposal of key dates by the NRL in order to begin planning their team’s pre-season training schedules.

Thursday night March 2 next year - one week earlier than the kick-off date of this current season - is the opening round launch date that every club has been told to prepare for.

It is the earliest start to a season since the 2001 season which launched on February 17.

Pre-season matches are poised to formally begin on the weekend of February 10-12 with staging of the NRL’s Indigenous and Maori All Stars clash in Rotorua, on top of every club’s first official trial matches.

Following it’s ratings success this season, every trial match will again be televised live on Fox League.

The annual Charity Shield between South Sydney and St George-Illawarra, as well as a second weekend of club trial matches, is being slated by the NRL for February 17-19.

Every club will be given a weekend off from footy on February 24-26 in order to rest before the season-proper commences on March 2.

NRL PROPOSED SCHEDULE FOR 2023 NRL SEASON
10-12 February: 1st weekend of trials and NRL Maori and Indigenous All Stars in Rotorua
17-19 February: 2nd weekend of trials and annual Charity Shield
24-26 February: Footy free weekend
2-5 March: 2023 NRL kick off
27 rounds - each team plays 24 games.
Three byes for all 17 teams.

Due to the upcoming World Cup and subsequent annual leave requirements for players, the pre-season will need to be the most specific in years.

The high performance staff of every club will never be more important.

The NRL is confident in their pre-season scheduling having spoken with senior players, who the NRL claim would rather find their fitness through playing matches, than training.

However, some clubs, having received the NRL’s proposed schedule, have privately questioned why, after a World Cup, the Indigenous and Maori All Stars clash wasn’t suspended for one year.

Coaches, as we‘ve seen from Cowboys mentor Todd Payten, often refer back to their pre-season as the makings of their subsequent success.

Yet in 2023, the hangover from this year’s World Cup will severely impact the game’s best player’s preparation for the new season, particularly any player who plays in next week’s grand final, who without having a break, then go onto play in the World Cup final on November 19.

It’s possible that if New Zealand make the World Cup final, a player like Penrith and Kiwi Test prop James Fisher Harris, after taking his accrued eight weeks annual leave following the tournament, may have a pre-season of just five weeks before round one.

The Dolphins are also facing a shocking start to their existence.

Their entire leadership group of Kiwi stars Jesse Bromwich, Kenny Bromwich and Felise Kaufusi are all featuring in the World Cup, meaning they will miss a huge chunk of the club‘s first pre-season.

It’s only for the fact that all three former Storm stars have already served two weeks of annual leave due to Melbourne’s early elimination from the finals that their absence will be somewhat allayed by missing six weeks of what will be a club-defining inaugural pre-season.

It’s the Dolphins inclusion to the NRL that has created an odd number of teams, forcing the NRL to pencil in three byes for every club throughout next season.

The trio of byes is a huge win for players constantly seeking respite from one of the most brutal sports in the world.

However, clubs are already nervous about when they will receive their bye.

It wouldn’t be rugby league without a blow-up and you can time your clock to the rage from those clubs that receive their byes in the opening rounds of the season, when a fast start is largely the craving of every head coach.

Alternatively, some clubs will be treated to a Round 27 bye.

It is the closest the NRL have come to copying the AFL‘s bye round, providing club’s with a week-off right before the finals series.

As the AFL has found, a week off for a player striving to overcome injury ahead of the finals, could prove season-defining.

Additionally, State of Origin will be played across three straight Wednesday’s with no Thursday night NRL games scheduled that week.

To increase the chance of recovery for the game’s elite, the NRL are also investigating shifting the 6pm Friday night game to a Sunday afternoon in the week of a State of Origin match.

The NRL have also told clubs to submit their preferred home matches, including derbies and Magic Round match-ups.

Due to the complexities of the 2023 season draw, the NRL are unlikely to release the finished product until late November.

V'landys hurt Test football when he prohibited NRL players from playing in the 2021 World Cup, but the flow on effects of delaying it until this year has condemned Redcliffe to the worst possible preseason. The bloke doesn't have a clue. Dumb rule changes that led to blow-out scores, hysteria over concussions, delaying the World Cup and gifting the broadcast rights to News Ltd and Ch9 without going to tender are his legacy.
 

big hit!

Bench
Messages
3,452
I don't see how those competitions are relevant or comparable in this situation, but the point still stands.

Players and staff earn plenty, the game has enough revenue to service all levels and grow where appropriate. They can take the hit to make games days more appealing.

Hey if you think my above suggestion is radical, you would hate my preferred option of having multiple games played at the same time on Sunday arvos.

You misunderstand me. Your suggestion is on par with those comps. They still choose most of their kick off times, and they play many games at the same time - generally the traditional kick off time EPL Sat 3pm, NFL Sun 1pm eastern.

NRL and the AFL don't schedule any games at their traditional kick off time anymore. When was he last time we got a Sun 3pm kickoff in rugby league, or 2pm bounce in Aussie rules? They've been adjusted to fit in with the TV schedule.
 

King-Gutho94

Coach
Messages
11,079
Hopefully Wests Tigers reveal their allocation soon enough. I'm getting a little bit anxious about it because membership is almost being renewed and there'll be new options etc regarding venues.

I saw something on social media it's 3 x 3 split at Commbank, Leichhardt and Campbelltown.

Then the other 3 I suppose will be Magic Round, Tamworth and another Jungle somewhere.
 

tyty04

Juniors
Messages
18
What would be the fixtures that you lot would want for round 1 of 2023?
I feel mine would be:
Thursday 8:05: Panthers vs Storm (Bluebet)
Friday 6:00: Raiders vs Sharks (GIO)
Friday 8:05: Dolphins vs Roosters (Suncorp)
Saturday 3:00: Warriors vs Titans (Mount Smart Stadium)
Saturday 5:30: Rabbitohs vs Sea Eagles (Accor)
Saturday 7:35: Eels vs Bulldogs (Commbank)
Sunday 4:05: Broncos vs Cowboys (Suncorp)
Sunday 6:15: Dragons vs Knights (WIN Stadium)
Bye team: Tigers
 
Last edited:

flippikat

Bench
Messages
4,378
What would be the fixtures that you lot would want for round 1 of 2023?
I feel mine would be:
Thursday 8:05: Panthers vs Storm (Bluebet)
Friday 6:00: Raiders vs Sharks (GIO)
Friday 8:05: Dolphins vs Roosters (Suncorp)
Saturday 3:00: Warriors vs Titans (Mount Smart Stadium)
Saturday 5:30: Rabbitohs vs Sea Eagles (Accor)
Saturday 7:35: Eels vs Bulldogs (Commbank)
Sunday 4:05: Broncos vs Cowboys (Suncorp)
Sunday 6:15: Dragons vs Knights (WIN Stadium)
Bye team: Tigers
That's a pretty good shot at it.

You have a pretty good mix of rivalries across the matches - from old (Manly-Souths, Bulldogs-Eels) to modern day (Panthers-Storm, Broncos-Cowboys), to future-facing (Dolphins-Roosters, which I understand may have a Beetson Cup in the line).

The only match upstairs that don't have any particular big rivalry are Raiders v Sharks, Warriors v Titans, Dragons v Knights

I suppose you could add one more rivalry in there by putting Dragons v Sharks as one of the match-ups, which leaves Tigers, Raiders, Knights, Warriors & Titans as 5 teams to make-up the remaining two games.
 

tyty04

Juniors
Messages
18
That's a pretty good shot at it.

You have a pretty good mix of rivalries across the matches - from old (Manly-Souths, Bulldogs-Eels) to modern day (Panthers-Storm, Broncos-Cowboys), to future-facing (Dolphins-Roosters, which I understand may have a Beetson Cup in the line).

The only match upstairs that don't have any particular big rivalry are Raiders v Sharks, Warriors v Titans, Dragons v Knights

I suppose you could add one more rivalry in there by putting Dragons v Sharks as one of the match-ups, which leaves Tigers, Raiders, Knights, Warriors & Titans as 5 teams to make-up the remaining two games.
That's a pretty good shot at it.

You have a pretty good mix of rivalries across the matches - from old (Manly-Souths, Bulldogs-Eels) to modern day (Panthers-Storm, Broncos-Cowboys), to future-facing (Dolphins-Roosters, which I understand may have a Beetson Cup in the line).

The only match upstairs that don't have any particular big rivalry are Raiders v Sharks, Warriors v Titans, Dragons v Knights

I suppose you could add one more rivalry in there by putting Dragons v Sharks as one of the match-ups, which leaves Tigers, Raiders, Knights, Warriors & Titans as 5 teams to make-up the remaining two games.
Yeah I was tossing and turning over which matchups with those teams would symbolise a rivalry. Games such as Warriors v Titans and Knights vs Dragons are smaller sort of clashes that attract a lot of attention from their supporters. In saying that, I agree that clashes such as Dragons v Sharks and possibly Raiders v Knights should be fixtures in that round 1 slot with Warriors v Titans being left there. Tigers unfortunately will gain the first bye of the year.

What would be your Round 1 fixtures mate?
 

flippikat

Bench
Messages
4,378
Yeah I was tossing and turning over which matchups with those teams would symbolise a rivalry. Games such as Warriors v Titans and Knights vs Dragons are smaller sort of clashes that attract a lot of attention from their supporters. In saying that, I agree that clashes such as Dragons v Sharks and possibly Raiders v Knights should be fixtures in that round 1 slot with Warriors v Titans being left there. Tigers unfortunately will gain the first bye of the year.

What would be your Round 1 fixtures mate?
It's a tough one, because you want games that are gonna be big draws, but balance that against keeping some match-ups for later (build that anticipation)

I actually think a Souths vs Penrith game would be a decent one for Thursday night kickoff - especially how they've met in so many high-stakes playoff games in recent years.

Friday would be Dolphins v Roosters as the late game for sure, keeps the Dolphins matchups with other Qld clubs for later in the season,
Warriors v Titans (again, keeping the Titans away from other Qld teams) as early Friday game - Warriors hosting in that slot that Aussie clubs dislike.

Saturday would start with Storm v Sea Eagles. A rivalry that doesn't burn as hot as it used to, sure.. but still would be a decent appetizer to start Super Saturday.
Then onto Parra v Bulldogs - old rivalry, the intrigue being "have the Bulldogs improved enough over the off season under the new coach to foot it with a genuine force?"
Late Saturday game - Broncos v Cowboys at Suncorp. My one nod to intra-Queensland rivalry. Great check to see whether this season was a fluke for the Cowboys and whether the Broncos can build on their improvement.. plus a night game has to be the go for Queensland in early March!

That leaves the Dragons, Knights, Sharks, Tigers & Raiders.

Tough choices for Sunday, but one game would have to be Raiders v Sharks as that gives us a good guage on both teams (having both been in the playoffs this year), and the other game would have to be Dragons v Knights, as that's the most competitive looking one out of what's left.

So in short (home teams first)

Thursday : Panthers v Rabbitohs

Friday (1st): Warriors v Titans
Friday (2nd): Dolphins v Roosters

Saturday (1st): Storm v Sea Eagles
Saturday (2nd): Eels v Bulldogs
Saturday (3rd): Broncos v Cowboys

Sunday (1st): Knights v Dragons
Sunday (2nd): Raiders v Sharks

Bye: Tigers

I know it means no Sunday game in Sydney, but it also means Brisbane (×2), Auckland, Melbourne, Newcastle, and Canberra get to host games - so you get a lot of places getting live footy right away.
 

Diesel

Coach
Messages
19,918
If I was scheduling, I’d give the Storm 2 home games to start with before AFL season starts.

I wouldn’t have the Cowboys at home til round 3, it’s bloody hot up there… in fact no day games in QLD til April.

Warriors deserve a home game first up.

Raiders to play home day games throughout the year.

save rivalry games for Sat/Sun instead of having say, Dragons/Sharks Thursday night or Friday 6pm
 

Diesel

Coach
Messages
19,918
Also, does round 1 need to be a rivalry/blockbuster game. Fans have been starved for 5 months will go regardless who is playing. Round 1 should be mainly low drawing games, fans will still come in numbers to watch these games rather than in June/July in winter during origin affected rounds
 
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