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Could a knockout cup end the NRL's mid-season lull?

Are we going overboard with the short form of the rugby codes? (Photo: www.photosport.co.nz)
Roar Pro
20th March, 2014
34

Much has been made in recent years of the NRL’s mid-season lull when a State of Origin comes around.

Many of the top clubs lose their best players and when combined with five-game rounds, it definitely doesn’t make for exciting footy.

There have been numerous calls to change State of Origin to a stand alone weekend and honestly, it makes sense.

State of Origin has become the top feature of the game with stars now preferring Origin over international Test football. Hence, the major feature of our code should definitely not feature mid-week in between rounds. It should be on a Saturday night, smack bang in the middle of the weekend.

One of the main arguments against a stand alone Origin weekend is it would result in no club footy for three weeks of the season.

I recently posted an article proposing a divisional system in the NRL which resulted in a 23-round competition. This works in very well with my new proposal for the NRL and Dave Smith – a knockout cup to correlate with stand-alone State of Origin weekends.

The competition would obviously feature the 16 teams (or 20 as seen in my previous article), as well as regionals teams such as NSW and Queensland Cup teams, Victoria Rugby League, Western Australia Rugby League, New Zealand Rugby Lleague and even the Indigenous knockout winners. This would make 32 teams in the cup, drawn randomly for each round’s fixtures.

Over the three Origin representative weekends, the first four rounds would take place on the Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The players involved in Origin would obviously be unavailable to play in the cup, making the competition a lot fairer and increase the chance of upsets.

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By the end of State of Origin, there would only be the final to play, which would either be played midweek or as a stand-alone Sunday fixture.

Having this competition would not only spark the NRL’s mid-season lull, but also allow clubs who may be fighting to avoid the wooden spoon to still play for something. The NRL could even provide big prize money, like the Nines, to entice NRL clubs to give their best in the cup matches.

What do we think Roarers? Would a knockout cup work?

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