Official 2026 NRL Draw

apezza said:
Also only travel outside Sydney once from Round 20 onwards (Gold Coast).
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It really is a solid travel schedule after last year.

Rd 2 Bathurst
Rd 4 Canberra
Rd 6 Perth
Rd 7 Bye
Rd 8 Townsville
Rd 11 Brisbane (magic round)
Rd 12 Bye
Rd 15 NZ
Rd 17 Bye
Rd 18 Brisbane
Rd 19 Redcliffe
Rd 25 Gold Coast

The Byes are well placed to soften most of the big trips, and having Brisbane and the Dolphins back to back allows for a good camp up in QLD. A nice home stretch without much travel is really the icing on the cake.
 
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I love draw time. It is literally the only time in rugby league that being the ginger haired stepchild is an advantage. (Last year an exception with a relatively tough draw).
 
Proud Shark said:
It really is a solid travel schedule after last year.

Rd 2 Bathurst
Rd 4 Canberra
Rd 6 Perth
Rd 7 Bye
Rd 8 Townsville
Rd 12 Bye
Rd 15 NZ
Rd 17 Bye
Rd 18 Brisbane
Rd 19 Redcliffe
Rd 25 Gold Coast

The Byes are well placed to soften most of the big trips, and having Brisbane and the Dolphins back to back allows for a good camp up in QLD. A nice home stretch without much travel is really the icing on the cake.
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Agree , but you never included the trip to Wagga Wagga as in the email from the Sharks -
" Taking centre stage at Magic Round in Wagga Wagga against Wests Tigers "

Seems AI wrote the announcements as well as doing the Draw
 
Six Again said:
Agree , but you never included the trip to Wagga Wagga as in the email from the Sharks -
" Taking centre stage at Magic Round in Wagga Wagga against Wests Tigers "

Seems AI wrote the announcements as well as doing the Draw
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That's for the NRLW team.
 
Proud Shark said:
It really is a solid travel schedule after last year.

Rd 2 Bathurst
Rd 4 Canberra
Rd 6 Perth
Rd 7 Bye
Rd 8 Townsville
Rd 12 Bye
Rd 15 NZ
Rd 17 Bye
Rd 18 Brisbane
Rd 19 Redcliffe
Rd 25 Gold Coast

The Byes are well placed to soften most of the big trips, and having Brisbane and the Dolphins back to back allows for a good camp up in QLD. A nice home stretch without much travel is really the icing on the cake.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't really consider Bathurst and Canberra as big road trips... about 3.5 hours each.

And we get to spend the peak of winter in Qld.

Have to add Magic Round Rd 11 in there though too.

So many good road trips there for supporters, it's going to be tough to narrow down.
 
Proud Shark said:
Fans hated that teams played each other twice in 4 or 5 weeks, so we've gotten rid of it.

They will now play each other twice no less than 6 weeks apart......

I mean, it's an improvement, but barely. I don't understand why we can't play everyone once first before double ups. At the very least it should be something like 12 weeks between facing the same team.
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Would be much much easier if they didn’t have specialty rounds and rivalries to prioritise.

Ratings based fixture adjustments (like broncos consistent time slots) also do have an affect on match ups because they make it just that tiny bit harder to balance.
 
bort said:
Would be much much easier if they didn’t have specialty rounds and rivalries to prioritise.

Ratings based fixture adjustments (like broncos consistent time slots) also do have an affect on match ups because they make it just that tiny bit harder to balance.
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Exactly. Other teams have a cry about ‘soft draws’. But then lap up the exposure / crowds and all that come with primo exposure games year after year. They just have the **** they can’t have their cake and eat it too.
 
Fox Sports analysis:

Teams they play twice: Rabbitohs, Dolphins, Warriors, Roosters, Raiders, Dragons, Titans, Sea Eagles

Games vs top eight: 10

Games vs top four: 5

Games vs outside eight: 14

Games vs bottom four: 7

Fixture difficulty: 16th

Pros: The Sharks can get off to a good start with clashes against the Titans, Panthers, Dolphins and Raiders, while three of their first five games are at home. They have a bye in Round 12 during the Origin period. Like last year the Sharks have a soft run home only playing three top eight sides from last year in the last 11 weeks of the season. They also only play three top-eight teams twice.

Cons: Craig Fitzgibbon’s side have a two day turnaround to play Manly after Origin I, while they have to play the Warriors during the second Origin and defending premiers the Broncos during the third Origin week, although in Brisbane’s case that could work in Cronulla’s favour given the defending premiers should be well-represented.

www.foxsports.com.au

Bad news for top contender as every NRL team’s draw ranked from easiest to hardest

Bad news for top contender as every NRL team’s draw ranked from easiest to hardest
www.foxsports.com.au www.foxsports.com.au
 
SF said:
I wouldn't really consider Bathurst and Canberra as big road trips... about 3.5 hours each.

And we get to spend the peak of winter in Qld.

Have to add Magic Round Rd 11 in there though too.

So many good road trips there for supporters, it's going to be tough to narrow down.
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Yeah I agree, I was just including all travel beyond Sydney. Forgot about Magic round though!
 
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HaroldBishop said:
Last round Brisbane Thursday night, Roosters Friday night.

It's ****ing criminal.
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Shocking. In fairness to both sides, they play so many on Thursday/Friday already. Broncos 11, Roosters 14. So the decision is likely just on ratings rather than giving them a leg up.

I was surprised we drew Melbourne on a Saturday leading into finals.
 
Proud Shark said:
Shocking. In fairness to both sides, they play so many on Thursday/Friday already. Broncos 11, Roosters 14. So the decision is likely just on ratings rather than giving them a leg up.

I was surprised we drew Melbourne on a Saturday leading into finals.
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You’re probably correct but ‘their on field advantage is probably due to their off field advantages’ doesn’t make me feel any better haha
 
Sir Chadley said:
So we don't play the Storm at all until the last round. And its at home. Not good that we don't get to test ourselves against them earlier but good to have them as a tough game before the finals. (If we make it. :LOL:)
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The could be 2 almost reserve grade sides resting up for finals. No doubt we would need it seeing as our last bye will have been 10 weeks ago.
 
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