Fierce rivalry to start season
THE North Queensland Cowboys will face fierce state rivals the Brisbane Broncos in Round 2 of the 2018 NRL season.
The “game that stops the state’’ will be on Friday, March 16 at Suncorp Stadium, the second- straight year the Queensland derby has been held in the second week of the season.
Brisbane have hosted the Cowboys in the first six rounds of each of the past five years, with the home side having a 3- 2 edge in these Suncorp Stadium clashes.
Last year’s game was another of the knife- edge finishes between the two clubs, with the Cowboys prevailing by a point ( 21- 20) before losing at home 20- 10 to Brisbane in the last round before the finals.
The full draw for the 2018 season will be released by the NRL at 9am today.
The Cowboys will host the Panthers on the Thursday night before an Easter longweekend feast of football next year, with two games on Friday night, two on Saturday, two on Sunday and one on Monday.
The Broncos’ first tilt at the Storm next year will be another Friday night blockbuster at Suncorp Stadium, in Round 7 on April 20.
In a major departure from past draws, the NRL will put dates to all regular- season games. In recent years, dates were not allocated for the last six rounds until mid- season to guard against teams being out of contention filling key Thursday or Friday night telecast slots.
It is a gesture of confidence in the competitiveness of the premiership and a result of the NRL having greater control in scheduling in the first season of its new five- year broadcast agreement.
It had already been revealed the Broncos would open the season away against St George Illawarra, the new club of Brisbane’s 187- game player Ben Hunt, on March 8.
It will be the first of 23 Thursday night matches played next year, Channel 9 revealed this week.
The NRL had 18 Thursday night games in 2017, so has fully embraced a timeslot less popular with clubs.
In one feature known about the schedule, the NRL is ensuring no team will have more than three games off a five- day turnaround next year, another benefit, it says, of the television networks having less say in 2018 scheduling than in the previous broadcast agreement.
There was a reduction last season in the number of fiveday turnarounds and the NRL said over two years there would be about 50 per cent fewer five- day turnarounds than in 2015.
The Cowboys start their season at home against Cronulla on March 9.
Gold Coast will also be at home first- up, against Canberra on March 11.