Two leading NRL executives have thrown their support behind a ‘Wildcard Weekend’ being added to the finals series once the competition expands to 18 teams.
In the wake of Penrith’s decision to rest 16 players for last Thursday’s clash against the Bulldogs, veteran journalist Phil Rothfield floated the idea of an additional week of finals to Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy and Souths CEO Blake Solly.
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The proposed idea would see the top six teams on the ladder enjoy a week off following the conclusion of the regular season. In that week, the 7th team will host the 10th team and the 8th would host the 9th in a pair of elimination finals.
In Rothfield’s view, the added incentive of a potential week off would deter teams from mass resting their players.
“By the top six teams getting the first weekend of the finals off, it would stop this sort of thing from happening,” Rothfield said on the Big Sports Breakfast.
“I really hope they do introduce it in the very near future. I don’t know, we’ll wait until Perth Bears come into the comp and it’ll take away the incentive for coaches to rest players and rob us of a blockbuster like Thursday night.
“Canterbury were gifted two competition points … I just don’t like it.”
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In his column for The Daily Telegraph, Rothfield interviewed Donaghy and Solly, both of whom strongly agreed with the proposal.
The competition is set to expand to 18 teams in 2027 when the Perth Bears enter. Not long after, the new PNG team is earmarked to join the NRL in 2028.
“This is definitely worth strong consideration when the competition expands to 18 and 19 teams,” Solly said.
“Hopefully it is another commercial asset broadcasters and sponsors love.
“When the competition expands to 20 teams, a move to conferences and wildcard play-offs will be essential anyway.”
“I think it’s a great concept as we continue to expand the comp,” Donaghy said.
“I say that on two fronts — one is that it rewards the top six teams with a freshen up.
“Two, from a club perspective, if teams are running 12th or 13th at the moment, the reality is your season is probably done and dusted for your fans.”
Another factor the NRL will consider when deciding whether to add a ‘Wildcard Weekend’ is the upcoming broadcast negotiations.
“I spoke to Peter V’landys and Andrew Abdo, and it’s about to go into their discussions now because they are about to go into negotiations with DAZN, Channel 9, Foxtel and other TV/streaming networks to sell the next lot of TV rights,” Rothfield said.
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