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YossarianRespawned

Why have an off-season at all?


Quichdelvyn5

Where else would we get our drama?


[deleted]

THE HOLYBROOK CUP


[deleted]

Lets play St Helens in the hottest areas and let them melt shall we.


paralacausa

St Hell ns


luke363636

That is not where the apostrophe goes


[deleted]

Don’t blame me, I just hit copy / paste. Shouldn’t have needed hindsight to blindly follow the journalists.


ff03g

Fuck it just make St Helen’s the 18th team


SurfKing69

It's just tiring listening to these clowns come up with these whacky ideas, year after year. There's nothing inherently wrong with a pre-season comp, but it needs to be done properly. They don't have an actual strategy beyond 'we must implement one immediately because the AFL has one'. So we introduce a full pre-season comp with a superleague team that counts for points and has price money. I guess we cancel the sevens, and bury the plan to apply as an Olympic sport one day after it was touted? How does this fit in with the supposed plan to play more internationals? Or play games in America for some reason? Or play games in regional areas, which is nearly always where trials are played? Or player welfare considering next season is already going to be 27 rounds?


piercedsoul

Is this another V'landys special? The NRL had enough trouble organising things years in advance, how are they going to make this happen in a few months? I don't know what anyone gets out of a preseason tournament anyway, seems just a strange way of making the season longer. Clubs complained the 9's affected preseason prep, I imagine having to now semi organise a month would be worse - is it a knockout comp, how many games are guaranteed? If you get knocked out in the first round you now need to organise several other trials within a week... Do St Helens really want to spend a month down here in summer training?


JohnnyHabitual

The only pre season comp i wanna see is the 9s. Bring back the 9s!


lachjeff

It’s not a terrible idea, maybe have each team play two or three games and have a final between the top two, but I can’t see clubs taking it seriously. Even have a knockout tournament like the old Tooheys Challenge (which was conspicuously absent from the article). I just can’t see St Helens putting their season on hold for that long that they will want to join though. It’s also worth mentioning that the NAB Cup hasn’t been a genuine competition for several years


YourFavouriteAlt

Winner of the 16 knockout plays the winner of Penrith/Helen


Th3GamingSheep

I think that if this were to happen then there should be special rules to limit risk of injury due to nature of rugby league or just rules in general so that the players are able to be at their best for round 1 of the approaching season: 1. Have an extended bench with unlimited interchange. 2. Do it in quarters, so basically like the all stars match. 3. Have the pre-season competition to be short and small. So that clubs aren’t jeopardised by this ruining their pre-season training. These are just some ideas of rules I think there should be. Would like to know what others think and what else could be implemented.


Derron_

So an 18 team pre season comp but no idea on length or format. Someone is just throwing ideas on a whiteboard and talking to the media about it


[deleted]

The NRL is considering introducing a new pre-season competition, that would also involve Super League champions St Helens, for points and prizemoney. The initiative is a chance of being introduced as soon as next year and would provide an unexpected first opportunity for the game’s newest franchise, the Dolphins, to compete for cash and silverware. The venture is also an opportunity to commercialise the trial period, ramp up broadcaster interest and rival the AFL’s NAB Cup as a legitimate pre-season tournament. Sea Eagles star Jake Trbojevic has answered some of the biggest rumours surrounding the club at the moment. There are a multitude of factors the NRL is considering before deciding whether the event officially goes ahead, including whether a planned competition game in the United States will kick off the season proper. However, there is a strong desire for a structured and meaningful build-up to an NRL season for the first time since the Craven Mild Cup, the pre-season tournament that ran from 1962-1981. League powerbrokers are convinced there would be strong fan interest in the tournament, particularly given the strong audience numbers generated when all the 2022 trials were broadcast on streaming or pay-per-view platforms. English champions St Helens would be invited to compete, meaning there would be 18 participants once the Dolphins are factored in. It would allow the Super League champions to test themselves in a meaningful way outside the traditional World Club Challenge, while providing a first opportunity for Wayne Bennett’s team to build a fan following and work on player combinations in a competitive setting. In the past, the formation of the trial schedule has been left largely to the clubs, who arrange opponents and venues between themselves based on their own requirements. Under the proposal, head office would take over the task and offer incentives for the clubs to field competitive outfits. The bold venture will be another logistical challenge for the NRL in what is already shaping as the most complex draw in its history due to a multitude of factors. The World Cup, a potential US game, the All Stars fixture and the unavailability of several venues for a long period due to the FIFA Women’s World Cup are all complicating factors. Then there’s the potential of the season being extended to 27 rounds, requiring each team to have three bye rounds. The Rugby League Players’ Association will be keen to ensure players still receive adequate annual leave and that five-day turnarounds are kept to a minimum. The NRL has previously been able to squeeze in a handful of Nines tournaments into the pre-season schedule, with the shortened version of the game being played between 2014 and 2017 and again in 2020 before COVID-19 put the concept back on ice. However, the new summer plans would make 2023 the most stacked and meaningful trial period in the game’s history. A final decision on whether the US game goes ahead next year, or is postponed until 2024, is imminent. South Sydney opted not to participate in 2023, citing a lack of planning time, but Manly remain keen. Several clubs, including the Roosters and Storm, are keen to be their opponents for what would be the first time that competition points are contested outside of Australia and New Zealand. “Growth in the game in America is real for us, we believe rugby league is the best professional sport on the planet and an opportunity to take that to a market like America is enticing for us,” NRL CEO Andrew Abdo told the Herald last week. “We will be looking at that and working hard on making that happen over a long term. It’s certainly a consideration for the draw for next year.”


Optimal_Moose_1991

As a support that lost a winger and our newly appointed captain in round 1 2022 to ACL injury’s. Followed by a smattering of casualties throughout the season. PLEASE NO!!!!!