The NRL is reportedly considering introducing a pre-season competition allowing clubs to fight for prizemoney and points.
The potential tournament will also involve Super League champions St Helens according to the SMH, as NRL powerbrokers attempt to increase interest in pre-season and commercialise the games.
The competition is set to rival the AFL’s NAB Cup and could be implemented as soon as next season — however, the NRL has a number of factors to consider.
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There is a possibility the NRL could take the first round of the 2023 season to the United States, which would become the first game played outside of Australia or New Zealand.
Meanwhile, the World Cup, All Stars game and venue availability during the FIFA Women’s World Cup will all cause big headaches when attempting to schedule the season, which is potentially being extended to 27 rounds.
The RLPA will be keeping a close eye on the 2023 schedule to ensure five-day turnarounds are kept to a minimum and each player has adequate annual leave.
In the 1990s the Tooheys Challenge, a pre-season knockout tournament, was played with both the Broncos and Raiders winning twice.
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Reports suggest NRL bosses believe a similar competition would be of interest to fans after a strong viewership was generated for the 2022 trials.
The NRL’s proposal would see powerbrokers take over pre-season scheduling and clubs be benefited for fielding strong teams — moving away from the traditional method which saw trials be organised internally.
St Helens would make up the 18th team in the tournament, with the Dolphins set to face their NRL rivals for the first time ahead of their debut season.
The NRL has previously implemented the Nines tournament into pre-season which was played in 2014 to 2017 and 2020.
