NRL fans are questioning the scheduling of the preliminary finals after league bosses once again put them on Friday night and Sunday afternoon. The NRL announced on Thursday morning that this year’s prelims will take place on Friday September 25 at 7.50pm and Sunday September 27 at 4.05pm.
For the second year running there’s no prelim on the Saturday – a move seemingly designed around avoiding the AFL grand final. But it’s once again raised questions around fairness because one of the grand final teams will get almost two days extra to rest and prepare.
The winner of the Panthers prelim will be disadvantaged compared to the winner of the Dolphins prelim. Image: Getty
The Dolphins will host the Friday night prelim against the winner of the Roosters and Sharks semi-final, while the Panthers have been given the Sunday prelim against either the Warriors or Knights. The grand final will be played on Sunday October 4, meaning the winner of the first prelim gets nine days and the winner of the second only gets seven.
The Dolphins have been given the Friday night prelim and the Panthers Sunday afternoon. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
Considering the Panthers finished first on the ladder and the Dolphins were third, many are questioning why Penrith have been given the Sunday prelim. It was the same situation last year when the Storm and Sharks played on the Friday night before the Broncos and Panthers on Sunday afternoon.
On that occasion the Storm were given the advantage because they finished highest on the ladder. However it didn’t help them as the Broncos ended up winning the grand final after the shorter turnaround.
NRL fans fume over ‘unfair’ preliminary final move
Nevertheless, fans flocked to social media on Thursday to bemoan the ‘unfair’ scheduling of the prelims. One person wrote: “It’s a massive advantage to the Friday teams.” Another commented: “One team gets an extra 2 days rest for the grand final. That’s not fair.”
Speaking last year about the situation, then-NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said as long as both grand finalists get seven days there’s no issue. “Once you get to that level of rest and recovery, we were really cognisant of the fact that seven days is key,” Abdo said.
“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.”
But Broncos legend Corey Parker said: “It’s poorly done and somewhat selfish from the NRL. The scheduling is completely unfair. It’s two days extra, it’s so stupid.”