Broncos handed a good deal with the NRL draw
THE Broncos remain kings of Thursday and Friday night football in the 2018 NRL draw released yesterday.
And the Broncos had a win with the awarding of three Sunday afternoon home matches, compared to none in 2017, after appealing again to the NRL for some daytime football for families at Suncorp Stadium.
Brisbane will play 13 of their 24 matches on Thursday or Friday nights, with two of their five Sunday games also being on free-to-air, a ratio some clubs would look longingly at.
These include Gold Coast, which plays once only in the main Friday timeslot, and twice more in the Sunday free-to-air game.
The NRL has long promised there would be a greater spread of free-to-air opportunities when it “took back” the scheduling in the first year of a five-year broadcast agreement.
Gold Coast will have its first free-to-air exposure when it takes its home game against St George Illawarra to Toowoomba on Sunday, March 25, and is next in front of Nine’s cameras in round 14 when it plays South Sydney at Cbus Super Stadium during the Origin period. The Cowboys are rewarded for their success with 10 free-to-air games on Thursday and Friday nights and one more free-to-air game on a Sunday, when they play Souths in Cairns.
Two matches are home games, and the Cowboys play in Townsville five times on a Friday night.
Gold Coast has taken two home games to regional Queensland in April, when its home ground is needed for Commonwealth Games rugby sevens and the city’s sporting interests turn to Games sports.
Gladstone’s Marley Brown Oval will stage the Titans-Manly game on Sunday, April 8.
Brisbane’s three Sunday home games are against Gold Coast (round four), the Warriors (round 18) and Manly (round 25).
It has four Thursday night home games, the same number as in 2017, and four on Friday nights, but five of the Broncos’ away matches are scheduled for Thursday and Friday free-to-air slots.
The NRL has compressed the fixtures into a 25-week regular season, one fewer than in recent years, as a gesture towards player workload, with Collective Bargaining Agreement talks continuing later this week with the Rugby League Players Association.
Teams will have one bye next season rather than two, with the Broncos and Titans having their bye in round 13 during the Origin period and North Queensland using its week off in round 17.
Only five of the Cowboys’ home games are in their preferred Saturday timeslot, which caters to their travelling support in north Queensland, with two on Thursday nights, including a round 22 clash with the Broncos at 1300 SMILES Stadium.
Two of North Queensland’s home matches are in the 6pm timeslot, which also makes travel difficult.