2026 NRL General Discussion Thread

I wrote this over in LU, but Canterbury have an opportunity to stamp this out by putting 50+ on Penrith. Even if it's a NSW Cup squad, it's demoralising as a club.

Otherwise the NRL has to come to the table here and work with the clubs because it's a horrible look. It's been going on for years but not to the extent that it's happening a fortnight ahead of the finals and it's 16 players. Whether they go the AFL route and give everyone a week off or tinker with the Origin period they have to find a solution.

On another note, I saw some complaints about the squad system and how the Panthers were picking outside of their Top 30. Fans need to realise it's actually a Top 36 these days (30 NRL contracted, 6 developmental) and from Round 11 onwards you can pick players outside of that.

I still think clubs ought to be more transparent here. It seems like the cap is being exploited with clubs not finalising squads by June 30. Penrith for instance only have 29 players in their squad, with 2 in their developmental. With per rata deals etc. clubs are probably saving six figures and topping some players up etc.

Then again it could all be speculation and five of those eight Penrith train and trialist could be taking up those NRL squad and developmental contracts. We don't know and it's something the NRL ought to be communicating with fans if they want to be seen as a professional organisation.
 
Brocko said:
If I'm the Knights id be going Holbrook over Blake Green every day of the week. (Providing those are the 2 options they are looking at).
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Daily Tele reporting that Trent Barrett is also set to be interviewed for the role. I really don't know how TBaz keeps getting himself in these positions for head coaching jobs lol. Do clubs not look at his previous failures?!
 
Redfern_1980 said:
Daily Tele reporting that Trent Barrett is also set to be interviewed for the role. I really don't know how TBaz keeps getting himself in these positions for head coaching jobs lol. Do clubs not look at his previous failures?!
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Gotta admire his persistence I guess lol
 
If the NRL implements the week off the Panthers would still be in the same scenario two weeks out from the break. Nothing for them to gain, and I think they would still certainly rest their side for 1 week and maybe 2 like they're gonna do now. I think it's a part of the backend of year and not really a problem imo. Some years won't allow for as much resting as this one.
 
1910 said:
I don't understand the issue, I want my teams winning finals, not round 25. If giving some guys a rest is going to mean winning finals who cares? It's like resting Pat Cummins before the Ashes.

I understand FOX might have a different perspective because they're paying billion dollars.

It doesn't lessen the product any more than during Origin and I enjoy those teams/games because you can see some players you want to see in the NRL but haven't been given a chance.

Two years ago, no one had heard of Fa'alogo until he played Round 27.
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And what about 10 other blokes who also played and went on to nothing?

If it’s in the rules, hey take advantage of it, I have no problem with any team taking advantage of bad rules while they are in place. So I have no problem with Penrith.

The issue is the precedent it continues to set. Why is it an issue? Because it’s supposed to be a professional comp. People aren’t paying good money to go watch the Penrith SG ball side.

And like it or not, gambling is a big part of the sport as is tv rights and they are paying good money for these games.

Additionally, this basically amounts to unintentional match fixing and comp doctoring. Other teams vying for top four are massively impacted through no fault of their own.

Every now and then you might even get one of these teams winning but what a terrible standard we’ll be watching (well not me, I mean the fan who does watch games).

As you said, origin already has a massive negative impact on the comp in general, this compounds the problem.

I don’t really understand how fans can be ok with it if this continues into the future.
 
Fernando said:
If the NRL implements the week off the Panthers would still be in the same scenario two weeks out from the break. Nothing for them to gain, and I think they would still certainly rest their side for 1 week and maybe 2 like they're gonna do now. I think it's a part of the backend of year and not really a problem imo. Some years won't allow for as much resting as this one.
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I think teams will look to rest just as protection for their best players... once you've secured a spot in the finals and you can't move anywhere, there's no real point exposing your players and risking injuries that would derail your finals series.

I do feel like the season is too long though... some teams look beaten up on the field at the moment, which also increases the risk of injuries and some guys actually needing a break for niggling injuries.
 
It happens in every single ****ing pro team sport in the world. More often in other sports than rugby league. You can't fix it. It's just what happens at the end of the year sometimes. I do not get the big deal.
 
It's an issue the NFL and NBA have been trying to solve for years and to the NFL's credit they have to come extent curbed the issue with their scheduling.

The difference here is that the NRL is more reliant on the TV deal which is why every game is spaced apart. If you encourage teams to throw the game it's just going to do a number to their ratings and shouldn't be encouraged.

Fair play to the Panthers but this could all backfire spectacularly.
 
Sproj said:
And what about 10 other blokes who also played and went on to nothing?

If it’s in the rules, hey take advantage of it, I have no problem with any team taking advantage of bad rules while they are in place. So I have no problem with Penrith.

The issue is the precedent it continues to set. Why is it an issue? Because it’s supposed to be a professional comp. People aren’t paying good money to go watch the Penrith SG ball side.

And like it or not, gambling is a big part of the sport as is tv rights and they are paying good money for these games.

Additionally, this basically amounts to unintentional match fixing and comp doctoring. Other teams vying for top four are massively impacted through no fault of their own.

Every now and then you might even get one of these teams winning but what a terrible standard we’ll be watching (well not me, I mean the fan who does watch games).

As you said, origin already has a massive negative impact on the comp in general, this compounds the problem.

I don’t really understand how fans can be ok with it if this continues into the future.
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When they rest Pat Cummins do you look badly on Cricket Australia? He should play every State game, Test, 20/20 and ODI and club game all year?

The NRL season is too long and as result of this is you need to get players a rest somewhere in there.

Imagine flogging Cleary and he gets injured on Saturday because of fatigue and you could have rested him and made a difference in the finals.

Penrith have to look after their investment, if the Broncos were in a position to rest Hunt and Reynolds, Haas and Carrigan I would be doing it this weekend for sure.
 
I don't understand the uproar to be honest... acting like this is the first time when in 2023 broncos and storm played out a reggies game in the last round of the year.

Teams have been doing it for years at this point... Supercoach had to change the default finals format because the gun teams were resting all their players.

I think it will be funny next week when dogs and raiders rest everyone... storm should rest everyone... panthers could rest key guys again.

If sharks get wind that dogs are resting they might rest some key guys as well.

If broncos win this week they could rest because a top 6 spot will more than likely be wrapped up. Rest everyone and come flying into the finals.

There will be guys rested all over the place
 
BroncsFan said:
I think teams will look to rest just as protection for their best players... once you've secured a spot in the finals and you can't move anywhere, there's no real point exposing your players and risking injuries that would derail your finals series.

I do feel like the season is too long though... some teams look beaten up on the field at the moment, which also increases the risk of injuries and some guys actually needing a break for niggling injuries.
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I like the penultimate round so you can treat from next week as finals. You've had a rest now we win five in a row.

This would be done in consultation with data, staff and players involved. It's going to be great to see the impact and the result over the next month.
 
1910 said:
I like the penultimate round so you can treat from next week as finals. You've had a rest now we win five in a row.

This would be done in consultation with data, staff and players involved. It's going to be great to see the impact and the result over the next month.
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Until someone gets a Cat 1 HIA and can't play week 1 of the finals
 
1910 said:
When they rest Pat Cummins do you look badly on Cricket Australia? He should play every State game, Test, 20/20 and ODI and club game all year?

The NRL season is too long and as result of this is you need to get players a rest somewhere in there.

Imagine flogging Cleary and he gets injured on Saturday because of fatigue and you could have rested him and made a difference in the finals.

Penrith have to look after their investment, if the Broncos were in a position to rest Hunt and Reynolds, Haas and Carrigan I would be doing it this weekend for sure.
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Oh right I didn’t know Cummins equated to the entire Panthers team except one bench player.

As I said, these are the rules and as such, Penrith has done nothing wrong. I have no issue with them doing it. This is more about the fact you have teams not putting out their best available side two weeks out finals. It’s a terrible look for a professional competition on the back of an already heavily compromised mid-season.

How is this going to promote a better tv rights deal in the future when a third of your season is basically completed without full team compliments even though blokes aren’t injured.

Like it or not, this comp professes to be professional, the way it currently works is pretty embarrassing to be honest. You have teams being unfairly affected by rep duties, end of season rests and wildly different draw difficulties. From a financial perspective to potential tv rights deals, it’s an awful look.
 
BroncsFan said:
Until someone gets a Cat 1 HIA and can't play week 1 of the finals
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And what happens if they get a Cat 1 HIA in the first week of finals? Or the second? Or what if they cop a flying boot from Gerard Beale? 💔

It is what it is and all the games at the business end of the season are last chances (well, mostly).
 
LittleDavey said:
And what happens if they get a Cat 1 HIA in the first week of finals? Or the second? Or what if they cop a flying boot from Gerard Beale? 💔

It is what it is and all the games at the business end of the season are last chances (well, mostly).
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If it happens in a final then yeah shit happens.

But why risk something like that haopening in a game that means absolutely nothing
 


I'm a bit late to the party here but pretty impressive guy. He handled a lot. That Stewart stuff did not reflect well on those two blokes.
 
What does CONEHEAD offer on 360?

I am on a work trip at the moment and so thought I would watch a bit of footy talking heads to see what they are talking about and while talking about his club, the moron sits there looking like a stunned mullet:



In a surprisingly interesting section on the Knights, he added half a sentence before being cut off because it was not even on topic. What a massive fail hiring him to be a co-host.
 
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