Should there be more stand-alone bye/rep rounds?

After observing the positive support for the Women's Origin match and the Pacific Tests over the weekend, IMO the NRL is making a mistake by ditching the stand-alone bye/rep round next season.

It seems like the women want to play a 3-game Origin series, and it would be good for the growth of the international game if the number of Pacific Tests could be increased (say 3 each, instead of only 1 each).

I'd like to see the NRL take rep football more seriously, by having 4 stand-alone bye/rep rounds each season, allowing for the following:

Over the first 3 bye rounds:
- Origin (men)
- Origin (women)
- Pacific Cup tournament (men)
- Pacific Cup tournament (women)

In the 4th bye round:
- Australia v Pacific Cup winner (men)
- Australia v Pacific Cup winner (women)

Also, IMO the stand-alone bye/rep rounds are better for the quality of the NRL, as, in theory, all rep/Origin players are available to play for their clubs in every round.

Thoughts?
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Ive been a fan of this idea for a long time.

Also means a reduction in games for the NRL regular season which would be excellent. Shorter comp gives every match a little bit more meaning.

Unlikely to ever happen in the short term due to tv deals maximising nrl games on tv

Yeah it’s a pipe dream due to TV deals but I’d like to have a 4 week mid season break for Origin and internationals

The clubs could play a mini-comp at the same time in non-RL cities, regional centres and suburban grounds, like the old pre-season comps. Obviously teams wouldn’t play full strength, but could be rules and cash prizes to ensure they don’t run out all reserves and dev players only.

I’d also have a week off between the last round and the finals so teams don’t rest players in comp games

17 teams 16 rounds 3 byes for SOO and Internationals

Play a team away year 1 then play them at home year 2

Unpopular opinion but I have found them boring.

Passion is great which masks over the fact majority of the teams are average.

Lot of the pacific island nations have no halves, look at Kevin Naqaima last night I kick the ball better then him.

Moanaman wrote:17 teams 16 rounds 3 byes for SOO and Internationals

Play a team away year 1 then play them at home year 2

You coming up with the 10 mil a week in lost revenue lol.

B/L wrote:Unpopular opinion but I have found them boring.

Passion is great which masks over the fact majority of the teams are average.

Lot of the pacific island nations have no halves, look at Kevin Naqaima last night I kick the ball better then him.

Giving the Pacific nations more opportunities to play Test football should help improve their strength over time.

I heard Ruan Sims say on the weekend that 45% of NRL players are of Pacific-Islander heritage. If she is correct, then that means the numbers are there.
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Moanaman wrote:17 teams 16 rounds 3 byes for SOO and Internationals

Play a team away year 1 then play them at home year 2

With 17 teams plus a bye, there would be 17 rounds, with each team playing 16 games. That's 8 games per round for 17 rounds, a total of 136 games, compared to the 192 games this season.

Although your suggestion is neat and logical, as B/L has alluded to, neither the NRL nor the broadcasters would accept such a drastic reduction in the number of games.
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my tv broke wrote:Ive been a fan of this idea for a long time.

Also means a reduction in games for the NRL regular season which would be excellent. Shorter comp gives every match a little bit more meaning.

Unlikely to ever happen in the short term due to tv deals maximising nrl games on tv

There doesn't have to be a dramatic reduction in the number of games.

This season, it takes 26 weekends to play the 24 rounds (one full bye round, and two split rounds). So, 2 extra weekends were used up this year to accomodate the rep games. It will be interesting to see what the draw will look like in 2023. Given that it's coming from the NRL, a "dog's breakfast" springs to mind.
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robelgordo wrote:Yeah it’s a pipe dream due to TV deals but I’d like to have a 4 week mid season break for Origin and internationals

The clubs could play a mini-comp at the same time in non-RL cities, regional centres and suburban grounds, like the old pre-season comps. Obviously teams wouldn’t play full strength, but could be rules and cash prizes to ensure they don’t run out all reserves and dev players only.

I’d also have a week off between the last round and the finals so teams don’t rest players in comp games

I'm not sure if 4 consecutive weekends of Origin/internationals would work. It could end up being a war of attrition for all the rep teams, instead of testing who has the best starting 17. NSW would probably have the depth advantage over QLD, while I assume that New Zealand would have the depth advantage over the other Pacific nations.

Regarding the idea of having the club sides playing a mini-comp over the 4 rep rounds, would they have enough players available, with the bulk of the players for the Origin and Pacific teams (8 teams in total) coming from NRL clubs?
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It will probably come as a shock, but I'm a big fan of the bye rounds

That being said;
Mate Ma'a Tonga playing in Auckland I think is one of the great occasions in World sport not to mention incredibly "feel good"

IMO International Rugby League has been of minor meaning for most of it's history - it's difficult to a credible "world" sport when for a long time there were only 3 top-flight teams (and let's face it, most of that time there really was only one or two).

The rise of Tonga, the potential rise of Samoa and the opportunity to grow Fiji & PNG presents an incredible opportunity to create a product with interest outside of the NRL which in time should continue to help improve the quality & depth of the NRL product.

It's has potential to be a win-win like State of Origin is, if it's managed well.
I'm not sure when/how they could do it, but I do think it's probably more immediately & long term beneficial to growing the game then just manufacturing another NRL team.

easytiger wrote:It will probably come as a shock, but I'm a big fan of the bye rounds

That being said;
Mate Ma'a Tonga playing in Auckland I think is one of the great occasions in World sport not to mention incredibly "feel good"

IMO International Rugby League has been of minor meaning for most of it's history - it's difficult to a credible "world" sport when for a long time there were only 3 top-flight teams (and let's face it, most of that time there really was only one or two).

The rise of Tonga, the potential rise of Samoa and the opportunity to grow Fiji & PNG presents an incredible opportunity to create a product with interest outside of the NRL which in time should continue to help improve the quality & depth of the NRL product.

It's has potential to be a win-win like State of Origin is, if it's managed well.
I'm not sure when/how they could do it, but I do think it's probably more immediately & long term beneficial to growing the game then just manufacturing another NRL team.

Great post.
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Just heard Paul Kent say on NRL360 that he ISN'T a fan of rep rounds, so that proves that it IS a good idea. ;-)
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