The NRL have copped the full brunt of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in their draw, with 13 games moved and another two still needing to find a venue due to stadium clashes.
The league unveiled the biggest schedule of the NRL era on Thursday, with 204 regular-season matches beginning with Parramatta hosting Melbourne on March 2.
Penrith will play the Eels in a grand final rematch at CommBank Stadium in round four on March 23, while the NRL are still working on the finer details of a two-week pre-season tournament.
The season will run over 27 rounds, with each team receiving three byes, with more games moved to Sunday nights from the Friday 6pm timeslot after State of Origin games.
But the most notable factor is the havoc caused by the FIFA World Cup.
With several major stadiums out of action for up to two months, Melbourne’s games against Penrith and Parramatta, in rounds 18 and 22 respectively, are currently marked as TBA.
The most likely result is that the fixtures will be moved to Marvel Stadium, but that would depend on clashes with the AFL who own the ground.
Brisbane will play three games at the Gabba, the Sydney Roosters will turn out twice at the SCG and a double-header will be held at Perth with the Dolphins playing Newcastle and South Sydney hosting Cronulla.
Sam Kerr (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
The majority of clubs have been able to move games to their traditional secondary venues, with Canterbury to play in Belmore and Bundaberg.
South Sydney will play matches at the Sunshine Coast and Cairns, while Wests Tigers will take a game to Tamworth as part of their long-term deal.
The Allianz, Accor, AAMI and Suncorp stadiums are all unavailable because of FIFA World Cup matches, while Campbelltown, Leichhardt and Kogarah are being used as training bases.
One place teams will not be taking matches en masse is New Zealand.
After all the talk of repaying the Warriors and New Zealand NRL fans after two-and-a-half years of no home games, only the Tigers will take a match to Waikato.
The Warriors have also been largely forgotten when it comes to free-to-air TV matches, receiving the least with just two.
Melbourne, Brisbane, South Sydney and the Sydney Roosters each have 13 games on Channel Nine, while Gold Coast are next worst off with four before Canterbury and Newcastle on seven.
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The Knights will also miss out on playing at Magic Round, becoming the unlucky side to cop the bye in round 10.
Meanwhile, Brisbane and Manly have been handed the hardest draws, with the Broncos playing 14 games against last year’s top-eight teams and the Sea Eagles 13.
Canberra’s draw is the friendliest, with only eight matches against last year’s finalists, while Cronulla’s is next best with 10.
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