I think that a mid season break would work

[TheDalek079]

Crowds go down during the Origin period. So why persist with playing club matches with depleted teams during this time?

Have a month off and have SOO as standalone. Use it as a transfer window to keep excitement in the NRL.

First week back, bring out some blockbuster games. Easts V Dogs. Brisbane V Melbourne. Maybe have Saints in Canberra and make a fuss about the hoodoo.

Sure it's not perfect, and you may have to reduce the season length due to it, but I think it would work

 

[BunniesMan]

I hate the origin period because of what it does to the game. Teams either make or don't make the 8, or make or don't make the 4 based on random luck of the draw and what matchups they get in origin affected weeks.

3 weekends without footy in that period and I bet the average crowds go to 18k in the first season. Or in other words halfway to Dave Smiths 2017 goal with very little effort.

 

[ByRd]

I agree with your idea. Sure, it's not perfect to have a break for 3-4 weeks in the middle of the year however, it is a better alternative to the NRL competition being effected for 6-8 weeks when it plays such a crucial role in making the top 8 or not.

Origin on three straight sunday nights would be ideal with as the opening post said a tranfer period during this time to keep NRL in the headlines as well.

Also, I like the idea of having blockbusters after the break to bring the comp back with a bang, less disruption to teams fighting for finald, makes it fairer and it does not disrupt the NRL competition, I think it's something that they need to look into.

 

[Jubileeboy]

I hate the origin period because of what it does to the game. Teams either make or don't make the 8, or make or don't make the 4 based on random luck of the draw and what matchups they get in origin affected weeks.

3 weekends without footy in that period and I bet the average crowds go to 18k in the first season. Or in other words halfway to Dave Smiths 2017 goal with very little effort.

Is there a new draw or you fail again?

Please think before you write

 

[reanimate]

Transfer period could be a good idea, add a 3 test Tonga vs Samoa series, a 3 test NZ vs Fiji/whoever else (England would be preferable, but that would require SL having a break too) series and you'd have no problem maintaining interest in RL during a break in the NRL.

 

[betcats]

I think whatever system they have merkins will complain. The NRL should just pick one they think is best a stick with it for a few years(Thats if they want to change it all) as long as attendance and ratings don't suffer for it. No matter what happens the media will call for change so we should ignore those f**ktards.

 

[BunniesMan]

We have had the current system for a while and attendance and ratings do suffer for club games. Take out GI from Souths and JT from the Cowboys and of course less people watch.

The current system isn't good enough. The proposed midseason break is not perfect but it's better than what we have.

 

[LineBall]

Having a three week break with Origin, City Country, And Pacific Test matches all played would still give enough league for most of us to get their fix. Throw in a transfer window with players able to change mid season - and this would spice things up for the latter half of the season nicely.

Having said that, the other thing that would help make the season fairer, would be for each team to play each other once, alternating home and away every year. Unfortunately this isn't going to happen until the comp expands to either 18 or 20 teams, and even then, they have to find a way to keep the same TV money with less games on offer.

 

[Different kind of Rabbit]

Three week break with Origin staying mid week and some sort of knock out competition running on the three weekends, just to keep the punters interested in the interim.

 

[pHyR3]

Quite like a mid season break, but not sure if it'd be better as 3 weeks or 5. Three would put a lot of pressure on the players who would likely complain and suffer with injuries and no time to recover. Five would be a long time but it could still work.

Also like reducing the season to 17 weeks (with 18 teams) so everyone plays each other once. But cause it's odd it would raise issues with how many home/away games you get. Therefore, I think there should be divisions of teams that you play twice. So Dogs, Tigers, Eels. Souths, Dragons Roosters. Brisbane, NQ Brisbane II. things like that to boost rivalry and crowds.

 

[georgesnmith]

i agree with the OP

the current system does a disservice both to origin and the nrl.

origin gets squeezed in between games of nrl, it loses some of its stature, it should be placed on a pinnacle for 3 weeks with all attention on it

also origin is killing the NRL. last year crowds never recovered.

marquee games are wrecked, clubs form affected.

the only excuse seems to be fox dont get product for 3 weeks, well they can give them some test matches or a kiwi origin as well.

origin players dont have to back up tired for club games, the rest of the players get a 3 week rest.

 

[georgesnmith]

I agree with your idea. Sure, it's not perfect to have a break for 3-4 weeks in the middle of the year however, it is a better alternative to the NRL competition being effected for 6-8 weeks when it plays such a crucial role in making the top 8 or not.

Origin on three straight sunday nights would be ideal with as the opening post said a tranfer period during this time to keep NRL in the headlines as well.

Also, I like the idea of having blockbusters after the break to bring the comp back with a bang, less disruption to teams fighting for finald, makes it fairer and it does not disrupt the NRL competition, I think it's something that they need to look into.

they could even play it live on sunday from 3 or 4 oclock.

 

[lockyno1]

Heck no! I'd rather not just give the market to the other sports during this period. Like it or not there are a lot of neutral fans that change sports very quickly! What are we meant to do for a month (and please don't tell me watch some rubbish Internationals with teams I could care less about). I'd rather Brisbane lose every game in the Origin period rather than watch two neville nobody International teams. It is fine as it is, what the need to do is to possibly rather than have 3 rounds missed have 2. Spread 2 weeks of games over 3 weeks.

 

[Timmah]

I keep drawing comparisons with the EPL when it comes to scheduling but they seem to have breaks for international weekends without it affecting crowds or interest too much.

Only people who don't have belief in the strength of the product will have a problem with taking a break for such a showpiece event.

 

[LineBall]

Heck no! I'd rather not just give the market to the other sports during this period. Like it or not there are a lot of neutral fans that change sports very quickly! What are we meant to do for a month (and please don't tell me watch some rubbish Internationals with teams I could care less about). I'd rather Brisbane lose every game in the Origin period rather than watch two neville nobody International teams. It is fine as it is, what the need to do is to possibly rather than have 3 rounds missed have 2. Spread 2 weeks of games over 3 weeks.

So with your logic, ratings and crowds would diminish during the finals, since most clubs aren't playing, which means all the neutrals will go watch something else........

Sounds legit.

 

[BunniesMan]

I keep drawing comparisons with the EPL when it comes to scheduling but they seem to have breaks for international weekends without it affecting crowds or interest too much.

Only people who don't have belief in the strength of the product will have a problem with taking a break for such a showpiece event.

For once I agree with you. Every European football league has international breaks and most of the non English leagues also have breaks over xmas and new years. It doesn't hurt them.

This will allow people to focus on Origin without having one eye on how it's affecting their club. And it'll give more media attention to developing nations if we also have 2nd tier countries playing tests in that time.

And by the times it's over we're eager and hungry for NRL footy.

I guarantee our crowd averages hit 18k in the first year.

 

[Cammo]

I guarantee our crowd averages hit 18k in the first year.

Statements like this and your "You heard it here first" are why you are so open to ridicule.

You need to stop putting your opinion as fact.

You believe we will get an average over 18k, it is NOT a fact, nor is it something you can guarantee.

By all means have an opinion, but ffs stop passing it off as fact

 

[Gustavo]

There are so many different ways to do it. Personally -

Three/Four week NRL break beginning mid June. Origin series played over these weekends back to back.

Additionally, Chuck in a rep series New Zealand + Pacific Islands/Combined best of the rest and host the City/Country match in this period as well. Include under 20's origin, NSW/QLD cup origin and throw in a women's test somewhere. The goal is to have at least Three televised games each weekend.

Include a Transfer period, allowing teams to finalise their squads for the following season. Make players worth available to public and watch the interest rise!

From here, back into the regular season until an all stars/grand final week, hosting finals series little later than normally played. I would also scrap the ANZAC test and create a tri-series around remembrance day, including England.

There would need to be a massive overhaul and each little detail could be changed, but off the top of my head i could see this working.

 

[Chook Norris]

There are so many different ways to do it. Personally -

Three/Four week NRL break beginning mid June. Origin series played over these weekends back to back.

Additionally, Chuck in a rep series New Zealand + Pacific Islands/Combined best of the rest and host the City/Country match in this period as well. Include under 20's origin, NSW/QLD cup origin and throw in a women's test somewhere. The goal is to have at least Three televised games each weekend.

Include a Transfer period, allowing teams to finalise their squads for the following season. Make players worth available to public and watch the interest rise!

From here, back into the regular season until an all stars/grand final week, hosting finals series little later than normally played. I would also scrap the ANZAC test and create a tri-series around remembrance day, including England.

There would need to be a massive overhaul and each little detail could be changed, but off the top of my head i could see this working.

Would support this as well
The scheduling definitely needs to be looked at. In it's current format, interest in the season has witnessed sharp declines as seen through average crowds.

 

[Danish]

I agree that a break for origin needs to come in, although if only make it 2 bye weekends with origin played on 3 consecutive Wednesdays.

We could then fill the 2 bye weekends with an NZ, Tonga, Samoa, & PNG 4 Nations, an U20s two match origin series, and a few legends charity matches ala the origin and test ones they had a couple years back (with a couple bench spots up for grabs for fans to win. An all out auction for one and a raffle for the other). Tickets to all these matches sold dirt cheap and all televised.

players can then choose to back up the weekend after the last origin game as they do now.

Best option IMO as it minimises the time league is off TV while still giving the regular season the respect it deserves by not allowing what has become 8-9 weeks of origin to completely undermine it