New Zealand rugby league fans won't be able to see the Kiwis on home soil until 2017.
All four of the Kiwis' tests this year are overseas, one in Australia and three in England, as the country's national rugby league team continues to struggle for exposure at home.
The NZRL had hoped to host next year's Anzac Test, but CEO Phil Holden says the Australian Rugby League Commission's contract with Channel Nine makes this prohibitive.
The Australian broadcaster's deal stipulates the midweek Anzac Test must be broadcast at peak viewing time on Australia's Eastern seaboard, meaning the game would have to kick off at 10pm in New Zealand which is impractical for the home audience.
"We're still talking, but the reality is that we're bound by the current Channel Nine contract with the ARLC," Holden said.
"It is very specific around kickoff times and, regrettably, it makes it difficult for us to host the Anzac Test.
"That has come on the radar with the ARLC recently and we've been working through that with them and what that means for us.
"So until the new deal takes effect in 2018, when there aren't any of those particular clauses in the contract, that's when I know we'll be hosting test matches against Australia at a kickoff time and venue that suits us. But between now and then, it's difficult."
It appears Newcastle is the most likely venue for next year's Anzac Test, although Townsville is in the running for it. The previous two Anzac tests, in Sydney and Brisbane, provided the NZRL with little financial return.
NZRL are also in talks with their Tasman counterparts about a test between the Kangaroos and Kiwis in October next year before both teams leave for the Four Nations in England and Scotland.
"Again, the conditions will be bound by the Channel Nine agreement, so it will be played over there if we're able to conclude an arrangement that makes sense to both parties."
The Kiwis haven't played in Auckland, the biggest market for rugby league in New Zealand, since 2012 and they won't get an opportunity to play there until the 2017 World Cup.
The NZRL are desperate for the Kiwis to be seen in New Zealand more because it has proved difficult to sign up sponsors as companies don't get an opportunity to capitalise on their investment with the team not playing on home soil.
"We're obviously frustrated about that and disappointed, but I must stress that there has been a massive degree of genuineness from the people we're dealing with in Australia in understanding the impact this has on us," Holden said.
"The good thing is that in 2017 there's the World Cup here, which will see a huge amount of football being played in New Zealand and then from 2018 onwards the international landscape changes forever."
The new broadcasting deal in Australia kicks in 2018 and under the new terms Channel Nine won't be able to dictate what time tests start. Although the Anzac Test will be scrapped, the ARLC are committed to playing tests against New Zealand at the end of every season.
