docbrown
Coach
- Messages
- 11,517
I don't think the NRL is ever going to reduce the number of matches played in the club season. Those matches generate the broadcast revenues that pay all the bills.
And if internationals were to stay solely in October and November I'd be fine with that too.
But if Internationals were played during the NRL season itself it would boost their profile. So a potential alternative might be extending the season length. I wouldn't start the comp in February due to the heat but it could extend into October potentially.
So basically say it's the year 2025.
1st March: Vegas double header
6th March: Rest of Round 1
8th May: Round 10 (3 games)
11th May: Sunday night Origin 1
22nd May: Round 12 (3 games)
25th May: Sunday night Origin 2
5th June: Round 14 (2 games)
8th June: Sunday night Origin 3
3rd July: Round 18 (2 games)
6th July: Sunday internationals 1
10th July: Round 19 (2 games)
13th July: Sunday internationals 2
17th July: Round 20 (2 games)
20th July: Sunday internationals 3
24th July: Round 21 (2 games)
27th July: Sunday internationals 4 - final
31st July: Round 22 (normal games)
18th Sept: Round 29 (last round)
26th Sept: Week 1 finals
19th Oct: Sunday Grand Final
End of October/November: Australia and New Zealand can play overseas etc or England tours here.
Teams would play 24 club games during over 29 weeks. Basically clubs get 5 byes, which will help improve player welfare.
Due to the 2 split rounds and Sunday night origins/internationals, each club is only impacted twice by losing rep players - once for Origin and once for internationals.
As the NRL expands to 20 teams - instead of 16 games spread over 7 split rounds it would increase to 20. So on average 3 games each split round.
Obviously, you can change the grand final date by removing some of the split rounds. But the price is that clubs are impacted more.
And if internationals were to stay solely in October and November I'd be fine with that too.
But if Internationals were played during the NRL season itself it would boost their profile. So a potential alternative might be extending the season length. I wouldn't start the comp in February due to the heat but it could extend into October potentially.
So basically say it's the year 2025.
1st March: Vegas double header
6th March: Rest of Round 1
8th May: Round 10 (3 games)
11th May: Sunday night Origin 1
22nd May: Round 12 (3 games)
25th May: Sunday night Origin 2
5th June: Round 14 (2 games)
8th June: Sunday night Origin 3
3rd July: Round 18 (2 games)
6th July: Sunday internationals 1
10th July: Round 19 (2 games)
13th July: Sunday internationals 2
17th July: Round 20 (2 games)
20th July: Sunday internationals 3
24th July: Round 21 (2 games)
27th July: Sunday internationals 4 - final
31st July: Round 22 (normal games)
18th Sept: Round 29 (last round)
26th Sept: Week 1 finals
19th Oct: Sunday Grand Final
End of October/November: Australia and New Zealand can play overseas etc or England tours here.
Teams would play 24 club games during over 29 weeks. Basically clubs get 5 byes, which will help improve player welfare.
Due to the 2 split rounds and Sunday night origins/internationals, each club is only impacted twice by losing rep players - once for Origin and once for internationals.
As the NRL expands to 20 teams - instead of 16 games spread over 7 split rounds it would increase to 20. So on average 3 games each split round.
Obviously, you can change the grand final date by removing some of the split rounds. But the price is that clubs are impacted more.
