2018 NRL Draw

Jesus, Knights and Tigpies fans arguing. Isn't there a NSW cup forum for those teams to handbag each other in?

On the draw, until they get a rotation system going where each team plays each other home & away a fair and consistent number of times over 4, 5, 6 seasons we'll get these same arguments every season. I mean, the Chooks only leave NSW once outside of a 6 day period in mid-May. Just give them the JJ shield.

If the NFL can schedule that with 32 teams in 8 divisions split between 2 conferences across 4 timezones + London, surely the NRL can handle it.

I know it was a very airy fairy comparison by using premiership betting as a guide only but how the fuck do the Storm & Roosters end up with the easiest draw out of the 16 teams.

We play the best sides twice every year and the likes of Knights Tigers once every season but I always accept it because I know the other top teams go through the same thing.

This year the Storm and the Roosters have been kissed on the dick and you may as well pencil them in as 1 2 again next season.

B/L wrote:I know it was a very airy fairy comparison by using premiership betting as a guide only but how the fuck do the Storm & Roosters end up with the easiest draw out of the 16 teams.

We play the best sides twice every year and the likes of Knights Tigers once every season but I always accept it because I know the other top teams go through the same thing.

This year the Storm and the Roosters have been kissed on the dick and you may as well pencil them in as 1 2 again next season.

Its crazy hey... Its as if the NRL doest even look at this shit before they put the draw out.

The general rule you would think is that the sides with more FTA games would have harder draws - because you would think that they would be the better teams each weekend. But nurp. Lets give the glamour teams easy draws so that they are fresh for finals. Newcastle has the hardest draw this season

Why they persist with this 6pm (5pm for us QLD residents) time slot on friday's is beyond me. It is fucking terrible. At the moment I would have to leave work at 4pm to get home with a chance to see kickoff. 
Is it purely targeted at tradies? Because no office workers are a chance of getting to a game and its a struggle to be home before half time to watch it on TV. Or city workers who go straight to the pub after work on a friday?

Also, this year the Eels had 6 of their last 7 games at ANZ. That would have helped them build for their strong back end to the season for sure. Crazy that the draw allowed a side to play 1/4 of the season's games at "home" in a row leading into finals. 

Newcastle have the hardest draw this year from a team v team perspective playing the Roosters, Storm, Panthers, Sharks, Eels all twice. Its crazy.. you would think that its good for the league to have the better teams players each other more so that there are less pastings. Nurp.

ryno_ wrote:Jesus, Knights and Tigpies fans arguing. 

If the NFL can schedule that with 32 teams in 8 divisions split between 2 conferences across 4 timezones + London, surely the NRL can handle it.

Well we have absolutely destroyed peanuts like you so many times on here, we might as well start on each other. At least we might get a decent debate out of it out of us educated footy fans.

And exactly - but in saying that its not like all the conferences are even. And dont get started on the NBA and how uneven their conferences are.

I do think that is something the NRL should explore though, especially if we persist with the expansion stuff, play each side once and you play each side in your conference twice, or something along those lines. Do it with reserve grade for a season or 2 and see if it works.

i do feel for the knights regarding the draw pieman, it is rough being faced with the challenge of playing a team that finished above you for 24 rounds for the 3rd year in a row, tough draw!



i know the dogs supposedly got a tough start (just behind the tigers in some rating i saw in the paper) but i really think we look to much into these things, there will be a few surprise teams and a few teams who disappoint and that changes the the whole per-conceived idea we had anyways. i mainly look at the draw for the games i can attend

probs only 1 game i could attend early on is good friday, which would usually annoy me but given my wife is due with our 2nd in mid april, good friday was probably the only game i was going till late may at which point we have a good stretch of games we can go to. finish off with a couple of sunday 2pm games which is perfect for me so i was reasonably happy.


penrith playing 3 teams twice in the first 9 rounds seems like an avoidable oddity in the draw tho

leaguegod wrote:i do feel for the knights regarding the draw pieman, it is rough being faced with the challenge of playing a team that finished above you for 24 rounds for the 3rd year in a row, tough draw!



i know the dogs supposedly got a tough start (just behind the tigers in some rating i saw in the paper) but i really think we look to much into these things, there will be a few surprise teams and a few teams who disappoint and that changes the the whole per-conceived idea we had anyways. i mainly look at the draw for the games i can attend

probs only 1 game i could attend early on is good friday, which would usually annoy me but given my wife is due with our 2nd in mid april, good friday was probably the only game i was going till late may at which point we have a good stretch of games we can go to. finish off with a couple of sunday 2pm games which is perfect for me so i was reasonably happy.


penrith playing 3 teams twice in the first 9 rounds seems like an avoidable oddity in the draw tho

Yes, good point LG. Further adding to the struggles of the working class Newcastle team. Playing sides that finished above them on the ladder every single week. Fuck me.. terrible draw

Also, try living in QLD and having a shit tonne of Friday 5pm kick off games for newie.
Even if I lived in newie it would be a stretch to get to a 6pm kick off on a friday... absolutely fucking shithouse time slot.