By DAVID HAYWARD
WITH the final ever City-Country match now behind us, it is not yet clear what plans the NRL has to treat representative weekends during the 2018 regular season. One thing is for certain the current NRL scheduling around Tests and State of Origins can be substantially improved for fans, TV revenue and attendances.
The NRL has persisted with the current representative scheduling since 2002 after it abandoned the stand-alone weekend approach in 2001. The NRL and commentators continually claim the current scheduling is the best option based on the TV revenue it generates from cramming in 192 regular season matches in 27 weeks with matches every weekend to broadcast. However, it significantly damages the product during the cold months of May to July when representative stars sit out regular season matches, which in turn tends to make many fans disengage from the competition until Origin is complete and all clubs have had their two byes to assess how well their club is performing. Also, more importantly, it compromises the integrity of the regular season competition.
From an international standpoint, just four per cent of the 209 matches to be played in 2017 (excluding World Cup matches) will be representative fixtures. Surely, this is an unsustainable proportion of international play if the game wants to have successful World Cups into the future.
The fact is there is a much better option, contrary to the NRL and most commentators opinions, that includes the following:
1. Origin played on Monday nights after an NRL regular season free weekend;
2. Re-instate the traditional 22 round NRL regular season competition;
3. Introduce a 16 team NRL knockout competition (Challenge Cup) on representative weekends;
4. Establish an annual three Test series between Australia and New Zealand;
5. Establish an annual round robin Pacific Nations Cup on representative weekends.
The above will generate more matches to televise in 2018 (217 matches) than 2017 (209 matches) over the same equivalent 31 week schedule. This means the NRL could seek a variation to the TV deal with Foxtel and Channel Nine to proportionally increase the revenue. It also throws cold water on the claim that there is no way to introduce stand alone Origin weekends without compromising the current TV deal which requires televised matches every weekend.
The re-instatement of a 22 round NRL regular season will reduce the number of home matches for clubs from 12 to 11. The loss of revenue on season ticket packages, gate receipts (if any) and selling of matches to regional councils in Australia and New Zealand will be offset by the introduction of an NRL Challenge Cup. The matches in the Round of 16 can be sold to regional councils just as clubs currently do (also increasing the number of matches in regional areas to appease country rugby league fans) and the total attendance revenue from the 15 matches can be evenly distributed to all 16 clubs. This ‘less is more’ approach would hopefully mean each NRL club would be a net beneficiary by reducing the number of home matches and participating in a Challenge Cup. (continued below)
As a spin-off from the Challenge Cup in the UK, the NRL Challenge Cup has the ability to introduce new sponsors and for the game to test new rules to ensure the product is as entertaining as possible during the typically sluggish May to July period for the NRL and broadcasters. While the competition will be devoid of representative players, it will provide an opportunity for clubs to blood the best NYC and State Cup players before bringing them into the NRL regular season proper. To really make the competition excel, sponsors could put up significant prize money for the winners which should see all clubs taking it seriously given 15 out of 16 clubs typically operate at a loss.
Currently there are 12 matches out of the 192 regular season matches that do not include State of Origin players, plus a further 20 matches that have State of Origin players backing up on two to four days’ rest. This results in 160 matches that are not compromised by State of Origin matches. The 22 round season and Challenge Cup format would see 176 regular season matches with none being compromised by Origin, plus an additional 15 Challenge Cup matches that would be more compelling for fans, sponsors and broadcasters, as well as effectively equaling the number of club matches the current schedule provides. It will also assist with player welfare.
The ARL Commission are also sitting on a golden egg when it comes to trans-Tasman Tests. With the New Zealand Kiwis developing a highly competitive and entertaining side over the past decade, the time has come for the game to treat the Kangaroos-Kiwis clashes in the same way State of Origin and the Bledisloe Cup is treated in rugby union. The first match can be scheduled in May as it is currently held as a stand alone fixture, with the second match to be held in late July after Origin and the third and potential deciding match in October (which can be doubled up with a
Four Nations match in those years). With the Bledisloe Cup turning into a farcical contest given the All-Blacks’ Dream Team like dominance against an generally uninspiring Wallabies team, a properly marketed Kangaroos-Kiwis annual three-match contest has the ability to become the most popular Trans-Tasman clash across all codes in Australia.
The final new component to the 2018 rugby league calendar should be the introduction of a round robin series between the five Pacific nations, culminating in a final to be played on the same weekend as the second Trans-Tasman Test in late July. An underrated problem of international rugby league competition is that the lower-tier nations do not have enough matches to play with each other for them to maximise their potential when it comes to participating in the Four Nations and World Cup tournaments. The Football Federation of Australia had the same problem with the Socceroos when they were in Oceania and addressed this by joining the Asian Confederation. By introducing an annual nine game Pacific Nations Cup tournament, these nations will be able to improve the quality of their sides and increase their chances of competing with the top nations in upcoming World Cups.
The other underrated aspect of investing in these Pacific nations is that, to an extent rugby union are ignoring their strong heartland talent base of Samoa, Tonga and Fiji by focusing on playing fourth-fiddle to football, baseball and Sumo wrestling in Japan. Rugby league has the potential to become the most popular rugby code in the Pacific islands and this would be the most cost effective launching pad to boost its profile globally.
By introducing this representative calendar in 2018, the proportion of representative matches will increase from four per cent to eight per cent of the total 217 matches that could be played (and televised) next year. Making it a more sustainable mix of club and representative matches for the game to grow internationally.
Therefore, based on the above, there are no excuses for the NRL and commentators to claim that the game needs to stick with the current scheduling status quo when such a superior and simple alternative is ready and waiting to be implemented. In fact, maintaining the scheduling status quo puts the future of the sport at risk of going backwards as globalisation takes control in the 21st Century.
