New finals plan under microscope

NRL clubs will debate whether the finals should be open to 10 teams next year at a conference for chief executives in Brisbane next week.

The NRL said yesterday it would present no recommendation and was seeking feedback from clubs over whether to adopt a format by which only six teams would be eliminated from finals football after the home-and-away rounds.

A full agenda for the conference, held on the first two days of the Magic Round at Suncorp Stadium, is yet to be compiled, an NRL spokesman said.

The NRL took pains to sell the suggested format to media as a “wildcard weekend’’ rather a 10-team finals series when making it public in March as a way to give more clubs a longer period of hope of finals footy.

The new system, which could be introduced in 2020, would give the top six teams the weekend off after the regular season. The seventh and eighth-placed teams would play the ninth and 10th-placed teams, respectively.

While some clubs would appreciate being able to sell to supporters and sponsors the idea that ninth or 10th represents success, many league diehards will dislike such a reward for teams who generally lose more games than they win.

The 10th placed team last year, Canberra, had a 10-14 win-loss record. In all other seasons since 2009, 10th place has gone to a team with 11 wins.