Double trouble: Warriors face Manly, Canberra twice
NRL grand finalists Canberra and semifinalists Manly are among the teams the Warriors will have to play twice this season.
The Warriors will also face two fixtures against the Newcastle Knights, Cronulla Sharks and Penrith Panthers.
Stephen Kearney’s side lost to the Knights and the Raiders in the opening rounds before the competition was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kiwi fans won’t have to burn the midnight oil to watch the Warriors in Australia – most of the Auckland club’s games kick off around 8pm (NZ time), with some as early as 4pm, 5pm and 6pm. NRL matches will be played from Thursday to Sunday each week.
After two rounds, the Knights are second on the NRL table, the Raiders third, Panthers sixth, the Manly Sea Eagles 10th and the Sharks 11th.
The Sydney Roosters’ bid for a three-peat has been dealt a huge blow with the reigning champions handed the most difficult draw in the competition, compounding their winless start to the season.
It comes as one of their biggest threats to the title, the undefeated Parramatta, have been allocated one of the easiest draws and will avoid playing last year’s grand finalists (Roosters and Raiders) or minor premiers (Melbourne) twice this year.
BetEasy has ranked, in order, the Storm, Raiders, Roosters, Eels, Rabbitohs, Broncos and Sea Eagles as favourites for the 2020 premiership.
Each team has five return legs as part of a 20-round season, with the Roosters – who lost their opening two games of the season – handed the arduous task of squaring off against the two favourites, as well as the Rabbitohs and Broncos, twice.
The only team that doesn’t have to play any of the top seven premiership favourites twice is Cronulla, who have drawn repeat rounds against five teams that all missed the finals last year – including a rendezvous with former fullback Valentine Holmes and his new club the North Queensland Cowboys.
Other teams that will be pleased with the schedule, only drawn against one top-seven team twice, include the Cowboys and Panthers.
The Eels don’t have to play twice against any of the top three-ranked teams, with the Brisbane Broncos and Manly Sea Eagles the only sides that they play twice that featured in last year’s finals series.
They have also been allocated a return leg against western Sydney rivals the Wests Tigers, Bulldogs and Panthers.
Last year’s minor premiers, Melbourne, have an equally difficult draw as the Roosters. Craig Bellamy’s men have been assigned last year’s grand finalists twice, as well as South Sydney and arch rivals Manly. The Rabbitohs and the Brisbane Broncos have the next most difficult draw with three top seven sides.
The regular season closes with three mouth-watering showdowns ahead of the finals, with the Broncos to take on Queensland nemesis North Queensland, traditional rivals South Sydney and the Roosters to lock horns and western Sydney rivals the
Eels and Tigers squaring off.
The NRL has allocated only venues for the first nine rounds of the season and will wait on government restrictions before announcing the remaining slots.
The NRL is still holding out hope of crowds being able to attend the finals series leading up to the October 25 grand final, with the State of Origin series to follow on three consecutive Wednesdays from November 4.