{"id":951413,"date":"2026-11-03T19:30:22","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T19:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/951413\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T19:30:22","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T19:30:22","slug":"harry-grant-calls-for-shorter-nrl-season-amid-contract-circus-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/951413\/","title":{"rendered":"Harry Grant calls for shorter NRL season amid contract circus"},"content":{"rendered":"

November 1 has come and gone but player contracts remain the talk of the town just days out from the World Cup semis which has led to one of the game\u2019s biggest stars calling for a change to the current system.<\/p>\n

The free agency circus has and will continue to dominate headlines in coming weeks drawing attention away from the games being played.<\/p>\n

Storm skipper Harry Grant\u2019s future has become a major talking point, amid the contract circus, after he was linked with a move to the Titans despite having another year at Melbourne and an option for 2028.<\/p>\n

There is no easy solution to sort out the current system, but there have been calls for a dedicated transfer window to clean it up with fans sick of seeing players sign for a rival club a year in advance.<\/p>\n

Grant would like to see fewer games played which would allow players to focus on their futures at the end of the season.<\/p>\n

As it stands, some teams started their pre-season fixtures on February 7, with the top players to finish their World Cup commitments on November 15 after a gruelling NRL season where the games are quicker than ever before. <\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe we could shorten the season,\u201d Grant said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThen you have a World Cup where everyone can play footy, and you have your conversations off the back of that. I\u2019m not sure. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s an easy idea, and I know there\u2019s an understanding that maybe a shorter season would get a bit more footy and open up some rep windows with Origin, Australia, Samoa and Tonga. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou see what the game\u2019s bringing in now, so maybe that\u2019s part of it too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The game will look very different in a few years with Perth and PNG about to enter the competition which could lead to conference systems and a new-looks finals format. <\/p>\n

That will take serious discussions between stakeholders including the Rugby League Players Association and the Australian Rugby League Commission. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are obviously conversations, but I\u2019d like to think we can have some mature conversations collectively going forward,\u201d Grant said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve certainly got some opinions myself, but it doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re always right. They\u2019re just a feel thing and an understanding. <\/p>\n

\u201cCollectively, if you get a few things that you think can take the game forward in a better fashion, then I\u2019m all for it, but you\u2019ve got to have support throughout to do that too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as \u2018Shorten the season\u2019: Harry Grant urges NRL overhaul amid free agency chaos<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"November 1 has come and gone but player contracts remain the talk of the town just days out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":951414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[386057,517884,383309,390130,517906,376963,391468,517894,517901,458435,384453,517902,437632,413577,378662,517904,437909,517903,384399,517890,376925,517887,517896,387755,399778,394390,46192,64,63,336221,14170,436916,517911,517905,13149,34990,1635,517900,517885,517886,9116,517891,23622,8095,43,383906,3195,647,517892,761,762,43961,517895,150443,40886,158,517909,16911,6622,517897,517893,207256,7820,506092,517888,517882,517898,517880,517881,85,22715,4031,17711,396199,22410,11640,378784,380422,517908,430332,215379,517889,74713,378583,380184,476992,356269,517883,264060,39937,506051,385557,517737,424427,517910,517899,21418,517907],"class_list":["post-951413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-biggest-stars","tag-s-free-agency-circus","tag-s-future","tag-2028-there","tag-a-better-fashion","tag-a-bit","tag-a-change","tag-a-dedicated-transfer-window","tag-a-feel-thing","tag-a-few-things","tag-a-few-years","tag-a-gruelling-nrl-season","tag-a-major-shift","tag-a-major-talking-point","tag-a-move","tag-a-new-looks-finals-format","tag-a-rival-club","tag-a-shorter-season","tag-a-world-cup","tag-a-world-cup-semi-final","tag-a-year","tag-advance-grant","tag-an-easy-idea","tag-an-option","tag-an-understanding","tag-another-year","tag-attention","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-big-change","tag-calls","tag-coming-weeks","tag-conference-systems","tag-contract-circus","tag-contracts","tag-conversations","tag-fans","tag-february-7","tag-fewer-games","tag-fixturing","tag-footy","tag-free-agency-chaos","tag-grant","tag-harry-grant","tag-headlines","tag-just-days","tag-kangaroos","tag-melbourne","tag-more-footy","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-newswire-sport","tag-no-easy-solution","tag-november-1","tag-november-15","tag-nrl","tag-nrl-overhaul","tag-origin","tag-part","tag-perth-and-png","tag-played-storm-skipper-harry-grant","tag-player-contracts","tag-players","tag-samoa-and-tonga","tag-serious-discussions","tag-some-mature-conversations","tag-some-opinions","tag-some-rep-windows","tag-some-teams","tag-sports","tag-stakeholders","tag-star","tag-storm","tag-storm-skipper-harry-grant","tag-support","tag-the-australian-rugby-league-commission","tag-the-back","tag-the-competition","tag-the-contract-circus","tag-the-current-system","tag-the-end","tag-the-free-agency-circus","tag-the-game","tag-the-games","tag-the-nrl","tag-the-rugby-league-players-association","tag-the-season","tag-the-season-as","tag-the-talk","tag-the-titans","tag-the-top-players","tag-the-town","tag-the-world-cup-semis","tag-their-futures","tag-their-pre-season-fixtures","tag-their-world-cup-commitments","tag-world-cup","tag-your-conversations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/951414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}