Broncos legend Darren Lockyer has hosed down suggestions that one grand final team – potentially the Melbourne Storm – will have a major advantage over the other due to the scheduling of the prelims. The NRL is copping backlash after revealing this year’s preliminary finals will be played two days apart, with Corey Parker and Gorden Tallis among the biggest critics.
The Storm will host either the Raiders or Sharks on the Friday night of week three of the finals, before the Broncos host the winner of the Panthers and Bulldogs on the Sunday afternoon. It’s the first time a prelim has been held on a Sunday since 2007, and the first time since 1995 the two games won’t be played on back-to-back days.
The NRL has scheduled the Broncos game on the Sunday because it’s become a massive TV ratings winner this year. They could have scheduled the Storm game for the Saturday night, but are keen to avoid the AFL grand final which will also be in Melbourne that day.
Darren Lockyer (R) has dismissed suggestions of a potential advantage for the Melbourne Storm (L). Image: Getty
It means the winner of the Storm game will get nine days to prepare for the grand final, as opposed to just seven days for the winner of the Broncos game. Parker and Tallis have both blasted the decision, with Parker labelling it “diabolical” and “selfish” to give one of the grand final teams such an advantage.
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But speaking on Tuesday, Lockyer went against his fellow Broncos legends. The former Brisbane captain, who played and won four grand finals, said it won’t make much of a difference as long as both teams get at least seven days.
“Whether it’s seven or nine, there’s no real big difference,” he revealed. “The only way it might become an issue is if you view it as a negative as a player, then it is a disadvantage. But if you say it doesn’t matter whether it’s seven days or nine days then it’s play on.”
NRL hits back amid furore over preliminary final schedule
Responding to the backlash on Tuesday, NRL CEO Andrew Abdo expressed similar sentiments to Lockyer. “Once you get to that level of rest and recovery, we were really cognisant of the fact that seven days is key,” Abdo said. “If you look at the regular season, obviously we have byes, so you have some teams playing teams that have effectively had two weeks’ recovery.
“We’re talking about the best professional athletes on the planet, and the clubs do an unbelievable job in terms of high-performance management. We’re really confident that it’s not an issue. Obviously we’ll see, it’s the first time we’re doing it. We consulted with the clubs through the course of making this decision. We’re really comfortable with what we have in place.”
Corey Parker is fuming at the NRL’s schedule for the preliminary finals. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
But Parker was fuming, lashing out on SEN radio. “It’s diabolical,” he said. “If the Broncos, Panthers or Bulldogs win, their first training session will be on the Tuesday because you can’t expect them to turn up on the Monday after the game on the Sunday.
“If they have a charter flight, Penrith or the Bulldogs will get home at midnight or 1am and they have recovery. There’s the Dally M Awards in that week and there’s commitments the NRL oblige you to do, that being fanfare engagement, and you have to train as well and recover.
“It has been absolutely poorly put together and the NRL has not considered player welfare, nor what the grand final week looks like from a preparation point of view. And they bang on about player welfare from that perspective, I think they have missed the mark.
“I just think it’s wrong. The players need to buy in together and say this is not acceptable. I don’t think they will do that, but it’s (grand final) the greatest week of a player’s career. Some guys may only play in one grand final and this is how they’ve set up the prelims, it’s not right.”