A fairer NRL schedule/draw

[TigersFan4Life]

Here is my simple proposal to make the NRL draw fairer to all teams. It's based on the league staying at 16 teams and playing 24 games, so if expansion ever happens you can throw it out the window.

1) Split the teams into four groups of four.

2) Teams play each opponent in their group twice for a total of six games. They play a total of six games against each of the other three groups, a total of eighteen games. So, they would play two of the teams in each other group twice and the other two teams once.

3) For the next season you retain the same groups. However, the games against the other groups are swapped around, ie. the two teams they played only once in the previous season, they play twice in the current season, and vice versa.

4) As a result every team will have played each other no less than three times during the two year period.

5) For the next two seasons you completely change the groups around so that you get a very different draw from the previous season. Each new group would be made up of one team from each of the groups from the previous season.

 

[Juro]

I prefer the system they had until a few years ago where they allocate teams to pools based on their position in the previous year. It was impartial and would give effectively the same result as your system over enough years.

 

[Blackpearl]

i prefer straight home and away where every team plays each other twice. if this means there are a few rounds mid week sobeit. its all even and no excuses

 

[TigersFan4Life]

i prefer straight home and away where every team plays each other twice. if this means there are a few rounds mid week sobeit. its all even and no excuses

Yep, but we all know that ain't gonna happen.

 

[Tiger_Watto]

No such thing as a fair draw. It depends which side of the fence you sit…

I would like to see a Challenge Style Cup somewhere into the Season though. They can include 2 regional teams from the Queensland and 2 Regional Country Teams to make it a 20 team Knockout comp...

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

The salary cap was meant to even it out and make the competition "fairer"… There will be no such thing as a fair draw when you have teams cheating the cap. In terms of the draw itself, unless each team plays each other twice, there's no real way to make the draw even.

 

[magpie_mania]

the salary cap was meant to even it out and make the competition "fairer"… There will be no such thing as a fair draw when you have teams cheating the cap. In terms of the draw itself, unless each team plays each other twice, there's no real way to make the draw even.

no but what it does mean is that over two years every team plays every team the same amount of times.it probably is fairer than the current model.

 

[innsaneink]

Trying to be nice, its not a very good plan.
Two seasons makes it a joke really

Scrap the trials and play a 30 week season

 

[stryker]

I see what your saying but take the Storm for example, one year they are chocablock full of rep players, the next they are very skinny in that department. Dragons and roosters will lose players soon as well.

Your idea only works if we have exatly the same rosters playing both seasons.

The only fair thing to do is to play each team twice - 1 @ home and 1 away.

 

[magpie_mania]

trying to be nice, its not a very good plan.
Two seasons makes it a joke really

scrap the trials and play a 30 week season

and the chances of a 30 week season is.

 

[tig_prmz]

Does the 30 week season involve byes??

 

[steve-o]

whens next yrs draw coming out?

 

[TigersFan4Life]

The title of my thread says "fairer", not "fair". I never said it was fair, only fairer than what we currently have. It's not rocket science. With the current 24-game schedule teams play nine opponents twice and six opponents once. So there should never be a circumstance where one team plays another team only once in two consecutive seasons.

And a 30-game season? You have to be kidding, when players are already complaining about the amount of games they play now.

 

[Juro]

Playing each team twice just makes the season far too long. And what happens if we expand to 18 teams? That would be a regular season of 34 games.

If you want fair, just have the draw determined randomly. Some teams may benefit in a given year but it would all even out over time.

 

[innsaneink]

trying to be nice, its not a very good plan.
Two seasons makes it a joke really

scrap the trials and play a 30 week season

and the chances of a 30 week season is…..............

…...............is very very possible by merely doing away with the 4 week trial game period at the start of each season.

Not for me to comment on the chances of it happening, merely stating its not as impossible as most seem to make out

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

trying to be nice, its not a very good plan.
Two seasons makes it a joke really

scrap the trials and play a 30 week season

and the chances of a 30 week season is…..............

…...............is very very possible by merely doing away with the 4 week trial game period at the start of each season.

Not for me to comment on the chances of it happening, merely stating its not as impossible as most seem to make out

It's a good idea Ink, at the least the players that go down injured in those games are playing for points instead of risking limb for nothing.

 

[simonthetiger]

Gawd I hate trials.

Much prefer to start for points.

Horrifying to think a key player may get injured so he can get match fit in a game that counts for nada.

 

[innsaneink]

Yeh, Big Patty in 04 up at Gosford crossed my mind while typing that previous post

 

[diedpretty]

I have often thought the existing 16 teams should be split in 2 - Sydney based and Outer Sydney ( Penrith would have top be in the outer Sydney group - play each team in your own group twice on H & A and play the other group once ( 4 games away 4 at home which alternates each year) - 22 games which stops the players whingeing - no games during SOO and Test matches. The sticking points are whether you combine the 2 groups on the table or whther points are allocated per group.The other thing would be how you play the end of season games.

 

[Junior008]

People may not like this but it could sort or the unfair representative time of the year where SOO could be on a stand alone weekends, therefore reducing the season to 22 rounds - with no byes

You would play the team in your group in the first 7 rounds, then the others in the next 8 rounds, followed by the teams in ther first 7 rounds at the opposite venues.

Looking at that we would play (Home and Away) Penrith, Easts, Canberra, Brisbane, Knights, Sharks, Nth Qld
\
\
\
Pool A Teams (1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16)
St George Illawarra
Gold Coast Titans
NZ Warriors
Manly
South Sydney
Parramatta
Canterbury
Melbourne

Pool B(2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15)
Penrith
Wests Tigers
Eastern Suburbs
Canberra
Brisbane
Newcastle
Cronulla Sutherland
North Queensland