Reports: NRL CEO respond to Panthers’ coach Ivan Cleary after he called for a change in…..Read more

In an effort to reduce player stress and accommodate more teams, Andrew Abdo has revealed that the NRL is contemplating cutting the men’s season short by several rounds. Papua New Guinea is expected to join the competition in 2028, and a 20th franchise is expected to join early next decade. Perth is the favorite to join as the 18th team in 2027, as the NRL works to expand the competition to 20 sides in the next decade.

Penrith coach Ivan Cleary has spearheaded the call to reduce the regular season to 19 games, with each side playing each other once, while other aspects of the tournament’s makeup, like the number of teams that will advance to the finals and the format of the schedule, are still up for discussion. A midseason break and a new multi-week representative event centering on State of Origin as the main event are two of the many proposals put out to lighten the load on players in light of the massive injury list for 2024.

Andrew Abdo broke the news that Ivan Cleary has asked the NRL to cut the regular season short in the midst of serious consideration of an expansion plan.

The present system is ‘unfair,’ according to Cleary, who thinks some teams face multiple traditional top eight clubs twice and that other teams get easier draws; he hopes that the expansion plan will lead to a comprehensive restructuring of the format. Cleary stated on Tuesday during an interview with SEN 1170 Breakfast that she believes “that’s part of this”—reducing the number of matches each team plays—as we discuss expansion. In my opinion, there should only be 19 rounds if we increase the number of teams to, say, 20. Each team should be played once.

It seems like we’ve lost that in the game; the draw can be unjust—I don’t know if that’s the correct term—but it’s definitely imbalanced. About twenty games seems about right; that’s still a lot of games, especially considering you have Origin in there.

The women’s game can be leveraged by broadcasters to increase the girls’ profile and attract a new audience. That’s kind of where I see it, around 20 (rounds).”

After Cleary spoke, Abdo reiterated that the NRL is giving serious consideration to the idea of a shorter competition. Abdo asserted during the NRLW launch that expansion provides them with more options. The structure of the competition can be strategically considered as you add and consider expanding with more teams. Going ahead, there might be fewer rounds.

“For us it’s about the quality of the competition and the quality of the whole season structure. The pre-season, the premiership, the finals series, State of Origin and the international game, which is incredibly important to the commission as well.”

Abdo also revealed that the season structure of both the men’s and women’s competition is currently front of mind as the league looks to grow both games. “The beauty of expansion is we will have options,” Abdo said.

“We’re planning now for something happening in 2027 and 2028, which means we can get very organised and think about both the men’s and women’s competitions. (We can consider) what’s the right time of year, what is the right number of games and what’s the right configuration.”

NRL broadcasters will have a large say around season structure, with the next TV rights deal set to come up for grabs in 2028. Image: Getty

However, NRL broadcasters will almost certainly have a large say around season structure, with the next TV rights deal set to come up for grabs in 2028. NRL clubs have played at least 24 games in a season since 1998. It was then upped to 26 in 2000 and 2001 when there were only 14 clubs.

But a 19-game season for each club in a 20-team competition would still allow for 190 regular-season matches, just two fewer than the 192 played as recently as 2022. Other options such as wildcard finals rounds could also be considered by the NRL as a way of adding extra knockout games and in turn keeping more clubs in finals contention.