The teams are locked in, the games are locked in, now we just wait. The 2016 National Rugby Championship will feature expanded broadcast coverage on Fox Sports as we reported last month, as well as one less team, meaning no byes.
All television games will now kick off at 3pm on both days of the weekend.
Brisbane City, Canberra Vikings, Melbourne Rising, Perth Spirit, Queensland Country, Sydney Rays, Western Sydney Rams and the NSW Country Eagles will contest the championship, with the Sydney University-based Sydney Stars announced to be leaving the competition earlier this year, merging with the Country Eagles.
With two months to go before the competition kicks off, Ben Whitaker, the ARU’s General Manager of High Performance said:
“We’re all looking forward immensely to the new National Rugby Championship season. We’re already seeing its benefits have been far-reaching. At a grass-roots level, we’ve had players earning professional contracts out of their NRC performances. At the same time, players knocking on the door of international selection have been able to maintain their match fitness as they look to persuade the Wallabies national coach that they are ready for international selection.
“We’re confident that with the confirmation of eight teams, and the learning off the back of the first two seasons the overall quality of the National Rugby Championship product will improve in 2016 as the competition will be stronger and more competitive.”
“Last year there were on average more than nine tries scored per match, and with the 2016 games being played mostly on weekend afternoons at a variety of regional and metropolitan grounds, more fans than ever before will have a chance to enjoy the thrill of the NRC.”
Those regional metropolitan grounds include Tamworth, Orange, Frankston, Toowoomba, on top of the major centres.
There has also been an adjustment in the scoring system, with all goals now worth two points, and tries worth six. Last year tries were worth five, conversions three and all other goals worth two.
What do you think Roarers? What do you make of the revamped draw and rules?
2016 NRC games broadcast on Fox Sports (all games kick off at 3pm)
Round 1, Sat 27 August – NSW Country Eagles v Brisbane City, Sydney University
Round 1, Sun 28 August – Queensland Country v Canberra Vikings, Bond University
Round 2, Sat 3 September – Brisbane City v Western Sydney Rams, Ballymore Stadium
Round 2, Sun 4 September – Canberra Vikings v NSW Country Eagles, Viking Park
Round 3, Sat 10 Sep – Queensland Country v Sydney Rays, Bond University, Gold Coast
Round 3, Sun 11 Sep – NSW Country Eagles v Melbourne Rising, Tamworth
Round 4, Sat 17 Sep – Melbourne Rising v Brisbane City, Harlequin Oval
Round 4, Sun 18 Sep – Perth Spirit v Queensland Country, UWA Sports Park
Round 5, Sat 24 Sep – NSW Country Eagles v Perth Spirit, Endeavour Oval, Orange
Round 5, Sun 25 Sep – Brisbane City v Sydney Rays, Ballymore Stadium
Round 6, Sat 1 Oct – Sydney Rays v Canberra Vikings, Pittwater Rugby Park
Round 6, Sun 2 Oct – Melbourne Rising v Western Sydney Rams, Harlequins Oval
Round 7, Sat 8 Oct – Western Sydney Rams v NSW Country Eagles, Concord Oval
Round 7, Sun 9 Oct – Brisbane City v Queensland Country, Ballymore Stadium
Semi-Finals – to be played 15 and 16 October
Grand Final – to be played weekend of 22 October
Carl Spackler
Guest
Penalties should only be allowed if the team was set to score. If it is not, then tap and play on. In a low scoring sport like rugby it is too large a penalty.
In brief
Guest
Brilliant but beyond the comprehension of mere mortals
NaBUru38
Guest
I like two point penalties, but I hate six point tries. There will be many matches drawn.
Griffo
Guest
How many drop goals were kicked in this recent series Johnno? I counted zero. To me the drop goal should stay at 3 points. Firstly, it does not appear to be overused. Secondly, as opposed to rugby league, it is more difficult to get into good position to kick a drop goal for two reasons: It is more difficult to advance down field in union and due to the position of the defensive line behind the last feet of the ruck it generally requires the team to be closer to opposition try line. Thirdly, due to my second point teams close enough to kick a field goal are often close enough to think that a try is a viable option. My feeling is that points should be 5-2-2-3, with only the penalty goal being adjusted down to two points. This means two penalty goals are not as good as a try but 3 is better, yet not as good as a converted try. 4 beats that.
jeznez
Roar Guru
Thanks Brett - looking forward to seeing some squad lists.
Bakkies
Guest
England and Ireland have a rule where there is silence while the kicker is taking his shot.
Richard
Guest
Hopefully we`ll be seeing Foley Horne and Phipps running around in every game.. Then we `ll know Cheika has made the right selections
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
You'd have to expect them to have strong defensive systems at least then.
Brett McKay
Expert
John Muggleton will coach the Rams this season, guys. And I think Jeremy Paul might be an assistant. And Jez, The Rams have signed Keivin Locke for the NRC, but he'll play with Souths, so I suspect there will still be a Souths spattering. Paul Asquith is contracted to the Melbourne Rebels though, so maybe not him..
Boris
Guest
The NRC is consistently excellent rugby to watch so I can't wait. The problem with super rugby and internationals is that the games range from being fantastic to being drab. There are some games that even the diehards struggle to watch and that's a problem. Maybe the NRC can show the way forward with its rule variations.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
Last I heard Williams won't be the Rams coach this year. Don't know about the Southern guys and how many of them may pop up and where.
jeznez
Roar Guru
Yeah - can see the Rays are not the Sydney Rays instead of the Northern Rays but there is still no mention of Southern among the clubs listed on their website. Keen to see the squads. Is Jim Williams still Rams coach? He isn't named as part of the Rays coaching team which has seen Cummins step down and Cron step up. What about Holloway, Saifoli, Asquith, Holland, Carbone, Gibbon, Roos, Betham, Pakalani etc - are they all still with the Rams or are the Rays getting a big up tick in personnel this year?
Boz the Younger
Guest
Lots of incentive for up and coming fly halves to practice their goal kicking then, you know, so that we don't lose the next three test home series against England ...
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Scrum, That's true. But look at where the game is receding. AFL is paying for schools to play AFL. Previous rugby schools are now AFL schools. Where do they get the money to pay those sports costs? TV Deals. Where does that money come from? Not suburban competitions. Squirrel advocates Shute Shield over Super Rugby. (Which is just 12 teams, not 5 of the 6 you talk of). But it brings in zero revenue. The ARU needs to bring up the revenue streams to direct the funds to growing the game through schools (especially public) and junior rugby.
Scrum
Guest
Oddly enough there is some truth TWAS. The professional side of the game is only a very small percentage of the participants-you know the ones who coach,manage,play & referee the game. One day the ARU will be surprised to learn there are more than 6 teams in Oz.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Not that rare. Weren't there 7 scored in the first test too?
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Looking forward to this tournament, last year was very good. I would keep drop goals at 3pts, as they are hard and are part of the flowing game. Penalties and conversions are boring. I've been to matches in four continents, crowd reaction is always the same: try scored, crowds roar with delight. Penalty or conversion get a polite clap from those not sleeping while the kicker prepares (unless it's a match defining kick). Can't do away with penalties, but good to reduce their importance.
RobC
Roar Guru
Whilst you may be onto something there Bakkies, there will be a lot of practice to slot conversions. There wont be much practice for penalties. It could correlate, except quite a few of the NRC kickers are pretty good I thought. Sam Greene, Jono, McKintyre. Even Lelo improved Ithink Interesting to see how it pans out NRC2016
Bakkies
Guest
'Odd comment Bakkies. I watched a tier 1 test match only a few days ago that featured 9 tries.' Rare as a good commentary performance from Kearns these days. The odds on less then 5 penalty goals kicked in the tournament must be 2/1 Aus Rugby never learns.
In Brief
Guest
You can achieve the same by having tries worth 3 points, and goals worth 1. A converted try would be 4 points, a goal 1 point. So four times greater. 3 goals would be worth 1 try. That's what I would like to see, a reduction in points, not increase, but maintain the ratio difference.